Just Another Day

Diaper Sewing

2007-07-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've been sewing a lot lately (well that is in between being a mom, a wife, a professor, a business owner, etc). And of course my sewing of choice is diapers because if we're going to cloth diaper, shouldn't those diapers be cute?? Using my new embroidery machine (and some imagination) here is what I have come up with...

Some covers:

The one above is a medium cover from DiaperKits.com with a flannel top that I embroidered.

This one is also a diaperkits.com cover - medium, single layer.

And I love this one - it's a medium two layer cover (to seal the embroidery) and it says "Does this Diaper Make My Butt Look Big??"

Some fitteds (these aren't waterproof and need a cover over them):

The one on the left is cotton flannel, the one on the right is bamboo fleece - both made from diaperkits.com and both are a medium (size two).

The blue cameo one is from Wal-mart fleece and is a medium Fattycakes diaper. I put snaps on and I just love the way it came out.

This yellow one is made from a t-shirt I picked up for $1.48 at a thrift store. The outside is the t-shirt, the inner is from an old sweatshirt, and sandwiched in between is one more layer of t-shirt, one layer of diaper flannel, and a soaker that has three layers of flannel and two layers of t-shirt. The face was part of the t-shirt. There are hidden snaps for comfort - and it's a Fattycakes size medium diaper.

This black one is made from a t-shirt I picked up for $1.48 at a thrift store. The outside is the t-shirt, the inner is from an old sweatshirt, and sandwiched in between is one more layer of t-shirt, one layer of diaper flannel, and a soaker that has three layers of flannel and two layers of t-shirt. The shirt says "back in the days." There are hidden snaps for comfort - and it's a Fattycakes size medium diaper.

Some pockets (these are waterproof , are Fattycakes pattern size medium and have hidden snaps... And I did the embroidery on all of them too!):

The whale diaper has blue PUL fabric on the outside and fleece on the inside.

The green Biohazard diaper has green PUL fabric on the outside and fleece on the inside.

The red diaper red PUL fabric on the outside and fleece on the inside. It says "A diaper change is in your near future" (with lottery numbers) on the back and "Lucky You" on the front.

The mom tattoo diaper has black PUL fabric on the outside and microfleece on the inside.

Some All-in-ones (these are waterproof, And I did the embroidery on all of them too!):

This monkey one is from diaperkits.com. It has green PUL on the outside and then two layers of flannel on the inside (plus a three layer soaker sewn in too).

This panda one is from diaperkits.com. It has maroon PUL on the outside and then two layers of fleece bamboo on the inside (plus a three layer soaker sewn in too).

I have used everything from specific diaper fabrics to just t-shirts and sweatshirts to create the above! It's soooo much fun!! I keep a Flickr group found HERE where I am putting all of my creations as I make them. So for all of your cloth diapering sewing mama's there is more info there about each diaper... Too much fun I tell you! My kid has the cutest butt!!

Necessity is the mother of all invention

2007-03-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

You know the saying "Necessity is the mother of all invention" - well it's too true! We needed a way to hold Avi's toys around his high chair so they are easily accessible yet neatly put away. So I decided to sew one that matched not only the high chair itself but our kitchen too. I bought two different fabrics at Wal-mart, some stiff iron-on interfacing (memo to me - I HATE working with stiff interfacing), and a belt-like woven ribbon. I was going to buy some D-rings to attach the bag to the high chair, but they didn't have any.

I then loosely followed this tutorial found HERE for making a messenger bag with gussets (I say loosely since I didn't make a messenger bag and I didn't make straps for it either). It all took me a night to cut, measure and sew.... I give you the High Chair Toy Bag:

I created a pocket to hold a book or two:

And made sure to create straps that are exactly the same width and size as the holes on the high chair for the seat-belt straps:

The clips on the straps allow me to easily remove the bag if I need. So far it works great:

How Alison Got Her Groove Back...

2007-03-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog (and readers if I still have any)... Well it's been nearly 19 weeks since there was a last blog post - long time!! And wow have I been busy these last few months. If you've been reading my other blog you know that Avi is just amazing, wonderful and the sweetest most precious thing to grace my life since my husband Michael. Avishai is a blessing from above - one that I thank G-d every day for!

But boy does he keep me busy. I can't, in good faith, work during the day - since I'd be taking time away from him... so I do thing here and there as he is napping or sleeping. That means that I am always doing something... and most of the time it's not sleeping.

Since his birth back in November I have taught one class with the online university I work for and I am in the process of teaching a second. We are still working on For the Love of Yarn and it continues to grow, despite my wacky schedule. We have traveled to North Carolina, Florida, Arizona and Utah. We've gone hiking, skiing, and out for many, many walks.

I have also been crafting... a little. First I made some homemade cloth wipes and burp cloths for a friend who just adopted a baby:

Then I knitted Avi a cloth diaper cover

Yeah it isn't the best... the rise was way too high (and the second one I made was way too low) but I am working on perfecting the pattern (I might just have to break down and buy a more professional one).

I also knit Avi a sweater (Pattern is Knitting Pure and Simple Baby Pullover #214 and the yarn is one ball of Cascade 220):

Notice the finger... he's saying that it took "one whole ball!" It's a top down pattern that really sailed right through. I made him the 6 month size but it really fit him at 3 months. I bought several of their patterns (because they are all top down) so I am going to keep going with them and make him some bigger sizes.

I have also made some gifts for friends. Here are some cute homemade onesies that I made for a friend who just adopted a baby boy and will be adopting a baby girl at the end of April:

I just couldn't resist and I thought they were too funny not to make. I have made Avi a few too and I am sure I'll get pictures of him wearing them soon enough.

I also sewed Avi a few blankets to hopefully have him use as his personal security blanket:

These are Avi's monkey blankets (because there is monkeys on it) and I made four big ones and four smaller one... with the thought that I can rotate them as we need (wash one, give him a clean one).... and the smaller ones are for when we are carrying him around and don't want to hold a huge blanket too!

Oh and then there was the costume I sewed for him:

He was a Hamantashen for Purim (a cookie for the Jewish holiday of Purim). He was just so sweet (pun intended). These are the cookies we baked for the holiday:

And the diaper cover I sewed too (from DiaperKits.com):

And that's it... things are good and I hope to post more non-baby stuff here (I'll try to make it non-baby at least). I have a few more crafting projects on my soon to be plate (a bag to go on the back of the highchair to hold his toys... and the bag of course will match our kitchen), a quilt that I have 1/2 done for Avi already, more personalized onesies, some cloth diapers and mamma pads... and I am sure there is more.

I am on my way to getting my own snap press and hopefully I'll have my very own serger soon too! Now all I need is an embroidery machine and I'll be a one-stop sewing shop! Then all I'll need is TIME! Leave me a comment if you are still a reader and say hi!

We have a new son!

2006-11-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

Reilly Fox Inc is proud to announce the early release of Baby Reilly Fox version 1.0. Codenamed “Avishai”, Baby was officially released to the public at 11:01pm last night. The research and development team who conceived this project are doing great and are prouder than ever. The post-production Quality Assurance team was also thrilled with the stats collected upon release last night and the fact that there were no defects to be found:

Name: Avishai Reilly Fox (Hebrew Name: Avishai Navon)
(pronounced ah’-vee-shy)

Date of Release: 11/3/06

Time of Release: 11:01pm

Weight: 8 lbs 3 oz

Length: 20 ¾ in.

Some early pictures from the release party are below:

Halloween Fun

2006-10-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

Well today is our second Halloween in our Georgia house. The plan was to join the neighborhood Halloween celebration (they do a parade for the kids down to the pool area where there is a supper/snack before trick-or-treating) but I was too tired and too lazy to walk all the way there. So instead we just stayed home waiting for the kids to come to us.

This year we gave out:

Yup - some candy and cool little mini-tins of Play-Doh! I was very excited about the Play-Doh! Turns out that we didn't even have 20 kids come to our door... our block dead ends and our house is at the top of a hill that no one wants to have to walk near... so just the folks we're friends with dropped on by! The Play-Doh was a big hit with most of the "older" kids opting for Play-Doh (the younger kids had no choice)! We waited for nearly two hours and finally got bored, went inside and watched a movie. Nothing like a quiet Halloween evening to bring a smile to an adults face!

Freakin Time Change

2006-10-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say "what's up with the time change??" I have issues with turning the clocks backwards and forwards and wish we could just keep one time and all just get along! I woke up this morning to SUNLIGHT in my eyes!!! Ummmm hello?!?!? That was so uncalled for! I was grateful for the extra hour of sleep but sunlight with that sleep? No thanks!

Football and Halloween

2006-10-28T23:57:00.000-07:00

Well today was a big day in the world of college football - ok not really but it's the day that the University of Florida beat the University of Georgia - again! Our day started off with my loving and very peaceful husband stealing the Georgia flag from our neighbors porch and replacing it with a shinny Florida flag.

You see here in the South college football is a BIG thing, people decorate their cars, their mail boxes, wear team gear out and about, and even fly flags outside their homes. Last year we noticed that these neighbors, who we hadn't met yet, were Georgia fans, and the weekend of the game my husband wanted to steal their flag. I wouldn't let him since we hadn't met them yet (and who knows how nice they would have been to our flag) but told him to wait a year.

Well a year has passed and they are as nice as can be - a young couple (like us) with a soon to be one-year-old little boy (who is cute as can be!)!! We have hung out with them at various neighborhood events and joked about our school rivalry. Well today was the day that Michael got to have some fun.

He snuck over to their house, walked up onto their porch and switched flags... Here is their house with our Florida flay flying!

We spoke with the wife later who said they were home when it happened and she looked out the window one minute to see their GA flag flying and the next minute to see our Florida flag flying - never having seen Michael. She thought "d'oh - they got us!"

Michael brought the flag home only to have some fun with the camera and our stuffed Gators. I offered him the chance to blog about it but he responded - "I don't blog" so of course it was left up to me to share. So here is what it their flag looked like in our house:

It sat on our floor, in front of our HUGE TV screen, for the entire game... and what was funny about this was the fact that we had four other Georgia fans over to watch the game with us... they got a good laugh out of it!

And speaking of the game... as pregnant as I am it's hard to find a team shirt to cover this pregnant belly - so I made one:

Isn't it cute?? I bought cheap maternity shirt at Old Navy (and I mean cheap - a whole $2.97) and I printed out the words and arrow using Print Shop and Iron-on transfer paper! I just love it!

Anyway, after the lovely game where we kicked Georgia's tail (again for the 15th out of 17th time) we said goodbye to our house guests (who had all come over to watch their team get beat) and we headed off to a Halloween party at the neighbor's house.

Being nearly 39 weeks pregnant, it's hard to find a Halloween costume that fits AND Michael hates dressing up. So I went with the idea I had nearly three years ago (that we never got to use). It was easy/comfortable to wear and cheap to make. So without any further ado - I give you Alison and Michael's Halloween costume 2006:

Now for those of you who were not blessed with a dirty mind, let me spell it out for you!! If you are up on your nursery rhymes you might remember the old one.... "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater." And that's as far as this explanation will go - hopefully you get it, if not... sorry just smile and nod like you do!

The funny thing was, several people at the party thought "pumpkin" on my shirt had to do with my big pregnant belly! Ummmm - no... if I had wanted to be a pumpkin I would have come up with a way better costume than that!! Anyway, when that would happen I would then ask them if they had met my husband "Peter Peter." Most would then get it, although a few of the dense still smiled and walked away.

One husband, who I had never met before, upon first meeting me at the party, shook my hand and then poked my belly and as he did said "great costume" only to discover that the belly was real!!!! WOW was he embarrassed and his wife nearly shot him. She tried to explain that women don't like it when strange men touch their pregnant bellies but the poor guy felt so bad because he really thought my belly was fake - it was a hoot!

There were some really great costumes like the husband and wife duo where she had an army fatigues jacket on and he had the army fatigue pants on -- they were Upper GI and Lower GI. Another guy was dressed like a huge turd with horns - he was BullShit! There was a pregnant Raggedy Ann and a drunk Raggedy Andy. Then our friends Adam and Alicia were my FAVORITE of the night:

They were Brittany Spears and her husband K-Fed! What was so funny was that Adam looked so dead on to K-Fed (as in white trailer trash bum). Alicia was pretending to be pregnant (and she looked damn good), had a beer in her hands at all times, and also carried around a baby boy who she would drop or nearly drop:

They really looked terrific. People would ask Alicia if she was really pregnant (ummm hello... note beer in hand) and that got even more laughs from those of us who know her. At the end of the night she put down her beer and took off her blonde wig - Michael told her that she could now be "Alison" since she still had the belly -- funny dear, really funny!

Here are a bunch of us "ladies" having fun:

It really was a good time and while I don't drink (not even on non-pregnant days) it was fun to hang out at watch everyone get silly - yet still be able to walk on home! Now I just need to up the ante and think of a good costume for next year!!!

T.M.I.

2006-10-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

Ok so I never do these things but this one looked like fun....

1. FIRST NAME? Alison

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My maternal great grandfather

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Not sure, but most likely I cried from doing something klutzy and hurting myself in the process

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Nope!

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Not a fan of deli meat - but I'd have to say salami

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Just my two blogs

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Nope - not since the 4th grade

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Been there, done that, and don't need to do it again

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Hmmmm - anything with sugar -- Reese Peanut Butter Cup cereal for sure! But I eat Honey Nut Cheerios most mornings

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Emotionally, yes. Physically, not really.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? From Brewster's: Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. From Carvel: Vanilla Soft Serve. From Baskin Robbins: Chocolate Peanut Butter. From the Store: Fudge Tracks

14. SHOE SIZE? 8.5

15. RED OR PINK? Neither, I am more of a Blue/Black/Grey kind of girl (but if I have to choose, red I think)

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? The fact that I am an underachiever, that I can't spell and that I could be smarter than I am

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My friends back in Arizona

18. WHO DO YOU WANT TO FILL THIS OUT? Anyone who sees it (and then tell me about it so I can go read yours)

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I'm still in my PJs - grey yoga pants, a black tank top, a green fuzzy sweatshirt, and my new Acorn slippers (that are black with a blue pattern on them)

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Lunch of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup with saltine crackers
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My fingers typing

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Blue or Black

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Vanilla or Citrus

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My friend Ilene

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Their face

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON YOU STOLE THIS FROM? Of course - Mel is da bomb!

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Tropicana Orange Juice with pulp (Minute Maid Brand is a close second)

28. FAVORITE SPORT? To play: Tennis/Biking/Hiking To watch: College Football

29. EYE COLOR? Brown

30. HAT SIZE? Hats have sizes?

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yup - and I need to get me some new ones so I can actually see

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Hmmmmmmmm - anything that is sweet

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Ending! I HATE scary movies and never watch them

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Totally Winter (as long as I am warm)

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Depends on who they are from

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Banana's Foster

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO REPOST THIS? Not sure, probably my mother

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? No idea

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Books? I am supposed to be reading?

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I have a boring mouse pad from 3M because it has a cushy wrist pad attached

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Didn't watch TV last night

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The type of "silence" you get on a ski slope in the winter

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Yuck, neither

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? China

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I can make myself laugh

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Bronx, NY

48. WHERE DID YOU GET THIS SURVEY? Found it on Mel's blog

Diaper Bag Bling

2006-10-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

I was surfing around on some of the cloth diaper boards and I found a lady who just made her first cloth diaper key chain - you can see it HERE. I thought it was the cutest thing and figured I could try that! Mind you I've never sewn a diaper, worked with elastic, etc - but I am always up for trying anything (even once!)

So I made one as a trial and it came out ok but not 100% right (so I'm not going to even show you a picture of the first attempt). And then I decided to try it once again and here is my second attempt (on the left is the outside, on the right the inside):

Isn't it cute?!? It's a little too big for my key chain so I think I am going to hang it on my diaper bag to use it to be able to tell my diaper bag from everyone else's... sort of Diaper Bag Bling!

Ok now the crafty specs: I used some scrap flannel for the outside and part of a stained hand-me-down onesie for the white inside (I'm not up for going shopping these days so scrap fabrics was what I had to work with).

I then eye balled what I thought was the shape by cutting a pattern sheet out of plain paper (and that is what I used to cut out my two pieces for the diaper). I sewed them right sides together (leaving a little opening) and then turned them right sides out (so the seams were inside). My first attempt I top stitched but it looked awful so the second one (shown above) I just sealed the opening when I put the Velcro on. I puck sewed the legs a bit (in the absence of elastic) to give it a more fitted look. Oh and I opened the seam on the back to sew a loop on and re-sewed the seam again, catching the loop in it.

All in all it took me less than 10 minutes and I really like my second attempt. I bet it would be easier with the right fabric (the jersey knit from the onesie sucks to sew with).

If you want one for yourself you need to visit BlueBerryMama's site HERE - she is making them to sell in order to afford to buy more fabric to make her cute sons diapers! I went ahead and ordered one myself - just to support the creative process that allowed me to have fun for a few minutes! Now I need to get to sewing some real-sized diapers!

Nesting?

2006-10-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned on my other blog, my nesting has taken the form of wanting all new camera equipment. I love to take pictures and you can see some of my older work HERE.

Currently I have a Canon 10D (a digital SLR that's 6.3 mega pixels) and it's a fantastic camera. But I have since found two other Canon SLR camera that I would like to upgrade to... the first being the 30D and the second being the Rebel XTi - both 10.1 mega pixels. I am not sure which one I am going to get (or at least get in my dreams) but currently I am leaning towards the Rebel XTi (if anyone has an opinion about this please let me know).

Then I decided that it was time to upgrade my point and shoot camera (you know, the one I carry around in my purse). Currently I have the Canon Powershot Elph S500 (which is 5 mega pixels) but I think I am going to upgrade (at least in my dreams) to the Canon Powershot G7 which is 10.1 mega pixels. It's a big bigger than the Elph and while it will still fit in my purse it will no longer fit in a deep pants pocket (although my pockets were never that deep).

From there I want to get a Speedlite flash for my Canon SLR and I am trying to decide between the 430EX and the 580EX - any opinions here too would be useful!

And last but not least, I need to get a camera bag to put it all in. Right now I am using the camera bag that came with my 35mm Canon Rebel and since I purchased a new lens my camera no longer fits. I have no issues spending money on camera equipment, but spending top dollar on a bag to hold it all - that's painful! I found one on eBay that I want but the guy wants $36 just to SHIP it -- which is crazy... so I will keep looking!

If anyone wants to purchase a great used Canon 10D body (with an extra battery) OR a great used Canon S500 (with an extra battery and leather case) please let me know. I have all the boxes, software, cables and supplies for each camera - and with the S500 - nothing in the box was opened besides the camera. My plan is to put them up on eBay around the middle of November (when I know that I have enough money to upgrade) so if you want them before I do that - let me know!

Oh and by the way - check out how cold it was here tonight at 11pm.... BRRRRRRR

And we're still in October!

A Busy Week

2006-10-23T23:01:00.000-07:00

Well I am up to week # 38 out of 40 weeks in this pregnancy and I figure the best way to get this kid to come early is have stuff planned all week!

Tomorrow I am heading to A Dinner A' Fare with a friend to prepare a few meals for us to keep in the freezer for after the baby arrives. This way we will have lots of good stuff to eat beyond the standard dishes - and they will already be put together (just need to cook them). Then I need to get our new baby car seat checked by a professional, just to make sure it's in right.

Wednesday I am having lunch with neighbor and her 2+ year old son and then there is the weekly doctor appointment. Saturday we invited 10+ people to our house to watch the Florida-Georgia football game, and that night we have a Halloween party to attend! If that busy schedule doesn't make this kid come early - I don't know what will!

Dueling Penises

2006-10-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Out with the old and in with the new - at least for our guest room that is. We are now the proud new owners of a "new" (at least to us) queen sized guest bed. Here is the bed we had in there before:

It was an old full size bed that was pretty nasty (to be honest). The box spring was all ripped underneath and the mattress was pretty shitty. It really ensured that no one stayed too long because it was hell to sleep on. Well we found out that our neighbors/friends were getting a new king size bed for their bedroom and were going to get rid of their queen bed. I told them that if they were planning on selling it cheap - we'd take it off their hands.

They had a head and foot board, as well as a mattress and box spring. (I never saw any of it before I offered to buy it.) I told them to go ahead and sell the head/foot board and we'd just take the mattress and box spring (since I was being cheap and we don't have a lot of money to spend). They decided to just sell it all to us for $100 - which even site unseen is a good deal. Well I told Michael and he wasn't happy about spending $100 of money we really don't have. But how could I turn it down as it's a good price - $100 for a queen bed.... that's a great deal. So I told him that I'd list our full size bed on craigslist and if I could sell it then we'd put that money towards the queen bed - he agreed.

So I ended up selling the full size mattress, box spring and frame for $75!!!! I probably could have gotten $100, but given the fact that it was old (an in my opinion, shitty) I was able to sleep at night with $75. Then I went looking for bedding - which is really expensive by the way! We are going to decorate the room in a fall theme so I knew what colors I needed. After a long search (for the right colors, the right set, at the right price) I finally found a set that included a comforter, bed skirt, two shams, and a full set of sheets (fitted, flat, and two pillow cases) -- all for $77 (and I had a $24 credit so it was even cheaper).

So I give you our new guest bed:

(Sorry the colors are a little off - but you get the idea) It's actually the nicest bed in the house!! And both Michael and I agree that neither of us have ever lived in a house with such a nice bed! We have a really nice and comfortable king sized mattress but no head/foot board! Now we have the dilemma that we might have made the guest room too comfortable and the guest might never want to leave?!? But there is one saving grace....

If you look at the metal work above the bed - doesn't it look like dueling penises?? Hmmm - that's a happy thought to sleep under! That should keep the family stays to a minimum! :-)

Last Dance?

2006-10-21T23:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight we took our final walk as if we were inmates on death row... we went out to what's probably going to be our last baby-less quiet dinner and a movie. We just ate at a local sports restaurant down the block and went to see the new Robin William's movie "Man of the Year." The dinner was good and the movie was pretty funny! I am such a hater of our current president that I'd take Robin Williams as president any day of the week (actually I am all for John Stewart and Stephen Colbert in 2008!!!)

Anyway, after our outing I can say that we are now ready for life to change... bring it on and lets get the show on the road!!!!

TJS and Friday Night Lights

2006-10-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

These last three days have been filled with 7 secret shops (6 auto body shops and 1 furniture shop). They were all easy but one was over 60 miles from my house (a little too long of a drive - especially in Atlanta traffic). I am happy to have made some money to put towards the car repairs (which got me the auto body shop in the first place) and put a little money in my pay pal account (from the furniture shop).

Oh and some fantastic news... Trader Joe's just opened in Georgia - and we now have one a few miles from our house!!! (It's been a long year without one!) Whoo Hoo Hoo!!! We went shopping there this afternoon and I was more giddy then a girl on her first date! I am so excited for TJs you have no idea!

Tonight we are heading to our local high school's football game - Friday Night Lights at it's finest! Should be interesting!

Handmade Baby Overalls

2006-10-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

My latest crafting project is some Baby Overalls made from fleece (yes I had left over from the blankets I've made). I've never actually sewn from a real pattern before (except a skirt and that wasn't a real pattern sort of say) so this was a challenge. My first issue was cutting out the pattern - I forgot to cut the triangle things out, both on the pattern sheet and the fabric - so that made it hard to line things up. Then I wanted to cut the smaller size out but if you do that you forgo the larger sizes - and that's crap because I want to use this pattern again. So I folded down the larger sizes so I could cut the smaller ones out. It wasn't perfect but I think I made it work.

Then I made a few errors when sewing - namely forgot for the few few seams that the seam allowance was supposed to be 5/8ths. I also followed the pattern to a point and then switched over to directions that were given in a magazine (for that pattern) from Hancock fabrics. It didn't have the best directions so I wasn't always sure what I was doing! I did leave out the snap tape at the bottom because the stuff was over $7 and since I knew I might have screwed the overall up I didn't want to waste the snap tap.

Then I managed to sew the button holes just fine - but when I went to open them I cut through the holes and cut up through the ENTIRE top. WHOOPS! That's why you see three diamonds on top - I sewed them on so I could redo the button holes as I didn't want my hard work to go to waste (and actually I ended up nearly cutting through again but managed to salvage it).

All in all I'd say they are looking pretty cute. They are supposed to be a 7-13 lbs size but I think they are more like 6 months if I compare the baby's store bought clothes to these. The buttons you see are from a stash I got from my mother/sister and they are just sitting there as I am not going to attach them until I try them on him and figure out where they are supposed to be sewn on (as the pattern says!) But really - aren't these cute?!?! They are so warm and fuzzy! I can't wait to try them on him - even if I have to turn the A/C way down in the summer so he can wear them at least once!

What do you do when you can't sleep?

2006-10-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

You cut out your next sewing pattern:

YUP! That was around 4am this morning. I would have worked on the sewing too but the machine is a little loud and I was afraid it would wake Michael.

I am making baby-to-be some overalls from left over fleece I have. I have never really followed a real pattern so this will be a challange but I am excited! Will post when they are completed! They will be perfect for this winter!

Heatherly's Contest

2006-10-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Heatherly posted a contest on her blog and while I am not usually a contest entering type of gal - I figure what the hey - so here it goes:

1. Where is your favorite knitting spot? Anywhere my yarn is! I mean I used to love to knit on the couch in front of the TV but if I have an appointment or have to wait in line somewhere, it was always better if I have something with me to do.

2. If you suddenly could never knit again (shudder) - what would you do instead? Funny - I haven't knit in 31 weeks... not exactly never but it feels that way. I've been sewing and scrapbooking (ok more sewing lately). I enjoy them both just as much as knitting it's just harder to take it with me.

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world - where would you go and why? Hmmmm this is a hard question! I want to travel all around Europe to see the sites and the history, but Australia and New Zealand seem to hold more adventure for me... so really not sure if I had to just pick one!

4. When you were little - What did you want to do "when you grew up?" Are you doing it? I want to be an Astronaut and fly the space shuttle. As for the question "am I doing it now" - I'd say that some days I am more of a space cadet than others... but haven't yet been promoted to astronaut status!

5. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Hmmmm again hard question! Before this pregnancy it was a vanilla based ice cream with something in it - like caramel, strawberry cheese cake, etc. But lately I've been wanting more chocolate based ice cream so it's more of a Chocolate Peanut Butter (Baskin-Robbins) or a Chocolate Raspberry Truffle (Brewster's) or even a Chocolate Coconut Toasted Almost (also Brewster's).

CRAP!!!!!

2006-10-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

Think I would have rather spent my night listening to George W Bush speak or having my bikini area plucked by a blind person with shakey hands! Would have been way less painful! All I can say is at least basketball season is right around the corner.....

More Baby Crafts part 2

2006-10-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

Last night when I couldn't sleep I decided to get out of bed to "be productive" which included not only answering emails but also a chance to cut my next sewing project out, which I finished today.

I made another footed blanket - this one for me to keep... for the baby of course! I love the blue striped fleece so I knew it had to be used for more than one thing! I did put two button holes on it:

And I did sew two buttons:

I hate sewing buttons - If I may admit that! I hate doing anything by hand when I have a machine that does something faster and better. But I sucked it up and sewed two buttons on! I also put a cool tag on this blanket as well as the one I made yesterday:

Cute huh?!?

More Baby Crafts

2006-10-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

Ok more baby crafts coming your way! First I decided to make one of those fleece blankets where you just fringe and tie the ends together. It's really easy and basic - a no sewing project. I love all things soft and while this child has way too many blankets already - there is always room for something that's handmade!!! I fell in love with this blue striped fleece a few weeks back at Joann's and since it was still on sale I picked a yard up the other day. I then got some pretty solid blue for the back and look what I did:

That's so you can see both sides... I just love it! Then I decided to make a pair of Baby Legs (found retail here). I made two pair out of some girls size knee socks I found on sale at Target ($2 for 2 pair - not bad).

They are plain white/navy but I hope to find some fun boy-ish print knee socks soon. I have seen it on the DIY sites to make them from women's knee socks - but this just seems really big to me! I used this site to help me through my first pair and I can say I had two pair in under 20 minutes! What fun!!! I know you might think they are silly - but I have heard babies scream when their diapers are changed because their legs get cold... now these can stay on during diaper changes (and stay under clothing in the winter and just be on without pants in the spring) and prevent cold legs - check them out:

I think the next project I want to tackle is to make some wool diaper covers from old wool sweaters that I'll buy at a thrift store and felt. I am planning on using this site or this site - but one step at a time!

Turing bad luck good

2006-10-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

Listen to this luck... Last month I got into a little fender bender with a parked car. It cost us some pretty cash to get the girl's car fixed. I have been dragging my feet to get ours fixed mainly because our car is drivable and it's going to cost a pretty penny.

Well yesterday I get an email about a secret shop in my area (I do secret shops from time to time) where you need to have collision damage to your car. I was to fill out some information about my crash and send them a picture. If accepted to do the shop I need to visit 6 specific auto body shops to get estimates, then fill out the information on the online form. Once I complete all six (within a week) I will get a total payment of $300!!!!

Talk about a bonus. Now my little fender bender will only cost a small penny instead of a pretty one!! Every little bit helps right?

We've been "ghosted"

2006-10-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

We live in the nicest of neighborhoods! We have an HOA (home owners association) that doesn't so much restrict what you can do, rather they are there to support the community. They maintain the playground, the pool, the tennis courts, the entry/exit way landscaping, etc. On the board of the HOA is a social coordinator who plans fun things for the neighborhood (parties for the kids and adults, holiday activities, outings, etc).

Well today I arrived home to find a pumpkin basket filled with goodies hanging from my mailbox. Inside there was a note explaining that we had been "ghosted." It was now our job to "ghost" two other families in the neighborhood by hanging a pumpkin filled with goodies from their mailbox or front door. Once you remove your goodies you are to keep your pumpkin hanging as to give a festive look to the neighborhood. How cute is that?

So to get in on the fun... Here is what is going on:

The front pumpkin is what we were gifted with - inside there was a Halloween pot holder, a Halloween dish towel, some Halloween cookie cutters and some candy of course. The back two are the ones we are going to ghost with - filled with a cool Halloween kitchen towel, fun Halloween paper napkins, candy and plenty of goodies. Isn't that fun?!?

Michael's Birthday

2006-10-10T23:09:00.000-07:00

Today is Michael's birthday - the old man is enjoying his last year in his 20s before coming over to the dark side of 30! He spent the day working (not much fun) while I ran errands. We had dinner at the Melting Pot (our favorite) and I even surprised him with having orange flowers in a blue vase, a card and birthday balloon waiting for him at our table! He was surprised all right! You had to roll me out of there and now I am suffering because of it - but the meal was great!

Happy Birthday babe!!! May this be a big and wonderful year for you!

Crafts and Computers

2006-10-08T23:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty low key weekend, if you ask me. Yesterday we watched the Gators beat up on LSU - which is always fun! It was a good game and we are getting ready for next weekend (Auburn yikes!) In the evening friends of ours came over for dinner/dessert and a movie in the new Fox Family Theater.

Today Michael spent the day reformatting my computer... That's right - he wiped it clean and started all over again. It was time for a reformatting as my computer had gotten slow, and gave me error message upon error message upon error message. It had become horrible! I was campaigning for a new computer (maybe something in the MAC family!?!) but we decided to save money and try to salvage this one!

Well I am happy to report that it was a success...my computer is clean, virus/spy ware free, and a lot faster. We're going to be adding memory and a DVD-RW drive to it in the new few weeks to really get the puppy cruising (well that and the DVD-RW drive is needed to go with our new camcorder to record all the fun baby things).

While Michael was working hard on my computer, I worked hard sewing curtains for his theater. We have one main window down there that needed some for of covering. We started with this fabric that he choose:

It's a lovely black with gold(ish) diamonds on it. It's really pretty but a pain in the tail to work with. After a lot of sewing I turned them into this:

I still think they need something as they look like two pieces of fabric hanging. So my plan is to go out and purchase some sheer fabric (or curtain panels) to hang behind it which will allow us to pull the fabric curtains I made back for show - only putting them down when it's movie/tv time and we need to block out light. This will make it look a little fancier. Stay-tuned for that!

Baby Crafts

2006-10-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well I have some fun new baby crafts to report about. The first thing is I decided a few weeks ago to try and make cloth wipes (if you cloth diaper, why not use cloth wipes??). I don’t have a serger and wasn't exactly sure how they'd work with such a tool. But I went ahead and tried anyway, and here is what I came up with:

I made some out of old flannel I had lying around (yes some is girly with flowers but it's for wiping poop so lets not be too fussy). I essentially sewed right sides together (they are 4" x 8"), then turned them right side out - top stitching all the way around. I made two with one side flannel and one side terry (second picture). These are ok but I am worried they will unravel. They aren't bad for my first try - however Korin (my internet buddy from the Pacific Northwest) told me she is going to make me some official cloth wipes with her serger... WHOO HOO HOO!!!! I am so excited that hopefully I won't have to even use mine... I know hers will be WAY better!

For another sewing craft I made some cool burp cloths:

These are made with old burp cloths that I got as hand-me-downs from a cousin. The first picture I used burp cloths that were old, lightly stained and really plain (just white). So I cut them in half and backed them with flannel or cotton. I tried to use what was in my stash and I am pretty happy with how they came out! The second picture I cut up an old stained baby outfit (from the same cousin) and used that and some flannel to make a burp cloth. The print is all about NYC so I think it's cool. And the third picture are some plain blue burp cloths that were slighly stained - so I used some left over fabric and zig-zagged around to make them pretty. I am planning on buying some new white burp cloths and having the baby's name embroidered on them - then backing them with nice flannel. I can't wait!

And last but not least - here is a new blanket I just finished: (first picture front, second back, third the cool button hole I made):

It's a copy of a blanket that is sold retail. It's made out of fleece and designed so that you put the baby's legs in the leg slots, and then you can buckle them in the stroller or car seat. You don't have to worry about loosing socks/shoes and you can still swaddle your child even while they are strapped in. The blanket retails for over $40 but I found one at Babies-R-Us for $10. So I used it to cut a pattern and made the one above. Mine has buttons instead of snaps, and since I don't have a serger to sew all the way around I used the button hole stitch instead (with gave it a nice look).

I am planning on giving this one as a gift - but it's going to be hard to part with because it's just so cute! I might have to make me another one for kicks. My plan is to get a serger and make one out of light cotton for the summer months too!

Oh and check out the cute wool diaper soakers that Sarah made:

I just love them! It's a shame they are supposed to be pee'd upon in some form or another... They are just too cute!

Ready for a good workout

2006-10-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

All righty - I am so ready to get back on the exercise trail! Whether that means running, run/walk, bike riding, hiking, the gym - something... I am ready! I have gone very easy with this pregnancy for fear of something going wrong (and I am not saying that working out would cause something to go wrong... But if something was to go wrong I'd always wonder). During the last 36+ weeks I have spent time at the gym and outside walking around a bunch - but that's not really my idea of getting great exercise.

Well I am ready to get my butt in gear after the baby gets here and if you don't believe me, here is proof:

YUP!!! I actually sent my heart rate monitor away to Polar to get it's battery changes and have a tune up to make sure it's in good working order. I got it back today and that's proof that I am ready to go (well that and the nearly new running shoes in my closet that call to me each time I walk/waddle in there). So after the baby arrives, and after I've healed (both physically and mentally), and of course after I am cleared by the doctor - I am ALL READY TO GO!!!! Project Take Off Baby Weight is ready for commencement.

A New Quarter

2006-10-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Since it's the beginning of the new quarter - lots of things happen around my house (not just the publishing of a new magazine issue). This might sound strange to others, but at the beginning of every quarter (January, April, July, October) I replace our toothbrushes with new ones, replace our bath puffs with new ones, and make sure to wash all the decorator towels we have lying around the house. Before I instituted this, I could never keep track of how old our toothbrushes really were - so now we have new ones every three months! Much better.

At the beginning of each quarter I also take the dogs to get groomed. It’s pretty pricey to groom them (nearly $90 for them both) so doing it every three months helps. Even though they get bathed and cleaned up by me once a month (brush their teeth, clean their eyes and ears, snip a little poop path for them, etc.) I like to take them in one a quarter for a major hair cut and cleaning.

So my shaggy dogs are no longer shaggy but clean cut little canines:

For the Love of Yarn Fall Issue

2006-10-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

Well it is the beginning of October and the beginning of a new quarter of the year. This can only mean that a new issue of For the Love of Yarn is up and running.

We worked very hard on this issue and just LOVE all the patterns and articles we have published in the magazine. The theme is accessories and quick holiday gifts - and our designers just went all out! You must run over there right now, if you haven't already - to check out all the goodies! Click the picture below to be taken right there!

Yom Kippur Day 2

2006-10-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

We spent most of today at Emory's Hillel for Yom Kippur Services. They are the services that never seem to end (it's a long praying type of holiday). There is a lot of standing involved (and when you are fasting for 25 hours this can really suck). I wasn't able to stand that long for any period of time as this baby is getting heavy and it's really taking a toll on my body. So I sat more then I stood - which is a first for me.

During the very long services I got pretty hungry (as I am sure everyone else was). However I had religious permission to eat - whoo hoo hoo!!! If you're pregnant, breastfeeding or have a medical condition/reason you are no longer obligated to fast. Works for me. So I took my small little soft sided lunch cooler outside, found a nice corner and ate lunch. I wouldn't have made it for so many hours any other way.

We left services and returned home so Michael could sleep a bit before going to evening services (yes this holiday required a lot of praying). We attended evening services at Chabad, but this time unlike Rosh Hashanah, it wasn't that crowded (mainly because the holiday was on a Monday is my guess -well that and we arrived somewhat early and were able to snag seats). We went back to Chabad only because we were doing a break the fast meal at yet another friend of Michaels - and they live close to the Chabad we attended (I mean who wants to drive over an hour on a very empty stomach when you could just drive a few minutes). As it was our services ended way later than the other service where folks where we having a meal attended - but no worries... There was plenty of food and the company was great!

So that's it for the major Jewish holidays this year! We are hopefully sealed in the book of life and have secured another good year (or at least that is what I like to believe!)

Yom Kippur

2006-10-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight marks the beginning of Yom Kippur (the end of the Jewish New Year Holidays). We got invited for Kol Nidre Dinner at another friend of Michael's... These folks have a six month old little girl with the cutest and biggest cheeks. There at dinner was several other old friends that he hadn't seen in a while - now with wives of their own (you see Michael was in Jewish youth group in high school and made a ton of friends throughout the Southeast - several of whom live in Atlanta - so it's been nice for him to reconnect!) It was a really lovely dinner and the food was terrific (which was good because most everyone there was going to be fasting for the next 25 hours due to holiday rules... However I get a pass this year due to being pregnant!!!)

After dinner we headed over to Chabad for service - it was packed! Partly because it's a huge deal to be at this specific service and partly because it was on a Sunday night. We didn't have tickets which would give us a confirmed seat, so due to how many people were there it was standing room only. The room was hot and packed. I was able to get a seat after a while (being this pregnant has it's advantages) but poor Michael had to stand in the back (this shul separates men and women to pray so he was on his side I was on mine). All in all the service was ok - but we were happy when it was over. Tomorrow we head back down to Emory's Hillel for services - should be fun!

Mail for Blue

2006-09-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today was a celebration as the Gators played Alabama in football... Ok we didn't just play them we creamed them!!! I was worried there for a little bit, given how much trash I managed to talk with an old friend before the game (sorry Janice - I can't help myself) but we won in the end. (After the first quarter or two I was formulating my email to her apologizing for the lack of control I have over my mouth -- but with the win I was able to scrap that!!!)

Earlier in the week my mom had mailed Orange and Blue a package because...well... As silly as this sounds - Blue LOVES opening packages. Boxes, big envelopes, you name it and he is all over it! She knows this and loves to send him things.

This package was addressed to both Orange and Blue, but once Blue got a hold of it Orange wanted nothing to do with it (not sure he'd know what to do if he got a hold of it). Orange took off upstairs and let Blue open the package all by himself. So we start off with Blue getting the package on the floor and trying to open it:

He doesn't have much luck with a sealed envelope so he tried to rip it open with his paws:

I decided to help him out by opening the first envelope only to discover two wrapped packages:

Now Blue is happy that the package is opened and he is ready to get out the gifts inside:

Once he has it out it's time to dig into the package... Bit by wrapping paper bit:

Lookie Lookie what he got out - a bag of treats:

But now he needs them opened if he is to enjoy them.... Here he is running towards me to open it please:

Phew - that was a lot of hard work, but no time to sit around and do nothing as there is yet another present to open (as you can see the wrapping paper just came off this one):

Once again Blue is saying "open this please mom":

With his belly full he was happy now to read the note inside:

Too bad Orange wasn't around to get any.... Maybe next time!

Scary Kitty

2006-09-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

Even though it's the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we goofed and scheduled a baby class for this afternoon. So no services for us (can't say I was really crying about this mishap as attending services isn't my favorite activity). After the class, however, we were invited to dinner at a friend's house - they had over 20 people over for holiday dinner and we were thrilled to be invited. It was a nice dinner and nice to be with people for the holidays (I brought some cakes I made, along with some homemade applesauce for dessert and they were all a big hit!)

When we got home we decided to watch some TIVO when I noticed Blue and his stuffed kitty cat:

Is that not just the funniest thing? I totally got a laugh out of it as the kitty looks to be trying to "scare" Blue while he is laying there like "enough already, I get the idea!" Here just for giggles - check out another angle (this one looks like the Kitty is saying "who's your daddy??"):

Praying and Partying

2006-09-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today we headed down for Rosh Hashanah services at Emory's Hillel. It's not really close to our house so I made sure to pack a snack (or three) so I wouldn't go hungry during the long service. It was a really nice and comfortable service and if it wasn't so far I'm sure we'd attend more often.

This evening we attended our neighborhood's adult only Oktober Fest located at the neighborhood pool. It was $25 a couple for all you can drink beer and all you can eat German sausage and other foods. Since I don't drink beer (and can't now anyway) and Michael doesn't really drink all that much beer, and neither of us eat sausage (I'm not a huge fan and Michael can't because it's not kosher) it didn't make sense for us to pay $25. So the organizer (friend and neighbor) was nice enough to let us just come and hang out. (I did offer to pay something to help offset the DJ costs but she wouldn't take any money from me!)

It was a really nice celebration where the adults seemed to have a great time! Most everyone got pretty drunk (big shocker) and they were fun to watch, that is until they got silly and started throwing (or dragging) everyone in the pool. Two guys tried to drag Michael in... Fully clothed with his wallet and brand new cell phone in his pocket... But he put up a fight and got them to back down.

So one of the guys turned to me and went to pick me up to throw me in the pool - UMMM HELLO BUDDY... I'm quite pregnant and the last thing he should be doing is throwing me in the pool! So lucky for him he was stopped and we got the hell out of there - because if he had thrown me in that would be the last thing he'd be doing for a while... I might be strong but I am mean and I get even pretty nicely!

Happy New Year

2006-09-22T23:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year - also known as Rosh Hashanah. Our plan is to play it quiet and just have a nice dinner at our house (Michael and I discovered that I can cook a mean beef roast so it's become a quick favorite for nice meals).

We aren't heading to religious services tonight (a first for us) but instead going tomorrow. Not that it's a "pick and choose" kind of holiday, but I think since our "tickets" are to a shul miles and miles away (and it's Friday so we'll get stuck in tons of traffic) Michael just feels that going tomorrow is best - which is ok by me!

Happy Holidays for those of you celebrating! May your New Year be a sweet one!

Happy Hubbie

2006-09-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

Today I was invited to a neighbor's house for Tea. It seems that another neighbor had her house broken into last week - so a bunch of women decided to get together for tea just to chat about it and see if there is anything we can do. We discussed alarm systems, flood lights, better locks, watching out for each other, etc. It was a lovely tea and a great exchange of ideas!

The highlight of today was having more of our home theater installed. We are now able to watch TV/DVDs down there thanks to our new projector and screen. It’s a great set-up that I hope to enjoy a lot more one the baby is here (sitting in the theater chairs makes it hard for me to breathe now due to the pressure it puts on my back/lungs). Michael is happy - so really that is all that matters!

Home improvements - bathroom

2006-09-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we had a high school youth group friend of Michael's (with his wife and 6 month old baby girl) over for breakfast. It was really a lovely morning and they were lovely people! Our afternoon was filled with a "how to breastfeed class" - complete with all the do's and don'ts. It was interesting, to say the least, but I am less worried about breastfeeding then I am about actually giving birth! Only 7 weeks to go until d-day... ahhhhhhh

Oh, I don't think I ever showed you all the baby's bathroom (well it's the upstairs hall bathroom that we call the "kids" bathroom since the guest have their own downstairs! Here is what it looked like when we moved in last year:

And here is what it looks like today:

Michael put up bead board, chair railing and shoe molding - painting it white to off set the blue walls. He also painted the vanity white and we bought new hardware to spruce things up a bit. Then I got some fun beach accents to hang on the walls. We even got an anchor for a towel holder to complete the beach scene.

The pictures on the wall are shadow boxes filled with pictures I took (one of Delray Beach and one of Hilton Head Beach) and then I put beach sand and sea shells in to round out the scene.

Some day I hope to replace the beach pictures with pictures of baby-to-be playing on the beach! All in all I'd say it's a great new look for the bathroom - really is a world better then what was there last year!

Work day and Gators Win

2006-09-16T23:19:00.001-07:00

Today I had work meetings all day long. Yes - I actually work (part time at best) and every once and a while I have work meetings. For one reason or another I can never seem to go (since they are on a Saturday and my job is in Arizona) but I tried to make an effort to go this time. Well I blocked off my entire day for it (since they were phone/web meetings and they ran from 11am - after 3pm) and what do you think happened when I tried to log-in?? If you said "not able to log on for $100 Alex" - then you'd be right!

For nearly 2 hours I tried to log onto the darn meeting and nothing, nadda, zero, zip, zilch! The second and third parts to the meetings were phone calls - so that was easy to get on to, but I was bitter for having missed the first part of the meeting (I need the meeting "credits" for my promotion that I am up for). I was so pissed that Michael was reminded of the not so nice person I was when I used to work for Corporate American and I think he was pretty happy that I left that type of environment.

After the meeting Michael and I went curtain shopping - or at least shopping for fabric to make curtains. His theater needs a big curtain and he wants me to make it. So we went to two stores that carry drapery fabrics... it was a long hunt but I think we've narrowed it down to two. I'll post pictures once we have it all made and up!

And of course our night was filled with the Gators playing the University of Tennessee. It was a rough game to watch - as we won by just ONE POINT! But it was exciting and definitely a nail bitter! We had thought about going but Michael decided that with my big mouth (that is filled with trash talking) it would be better to stay home... not sure he though the Tennessee fans would have mercy with a pregnant lady!

Busy, busy, busy - with a side of tired!

2006-09-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Well as always life has been busy. I feel like I am in a constant state of playing catch up! Tuesday was another doctors visit (this time for the thyroid stuff), Michael traveled from Wed-Thur and I ran around doing errands.... lots of errands, Thursday I felt like crap and had a hard time moving at any good speed, and today - well today is today. Today I am playing catch up on my blog (if you haven't noticed).

And our weekends for the next few weeks are even busy - the Jewish holiday timing doesn't help in that matter. We have a few birthing courses left to take, still trying to get together with friends before baby arrives, and there are of course all the things I need to get done (scrapbook, knit, sew, cook, you know the important stuff). Ahhhh - how to get it all done in time? And I don't even have a baby yet and I can't get it all done! AHHHHHHHH

Remembering the Day our World Stopped

2006-09-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

A family day

2006-09-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

This morning started off with having the entire family over for breakfast. And of course no family breakfast would be complete without pictures:

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up, watching football, and even an short outing to watch a neighborhood tennis game. Michael and I were zonked from the weekend but really had a great time!

Baby Shower Fun!

2006-09-09T23:09:00.000-07:00

Today was the day of my Baby Shower. I won't write all about it here but I will say it was one heck of a party! I missed all of my Arizona friend a lot but my friends and neighbors here in Georgia sure came out in full force to help welcome in this new child.... And several of my Arizona friends calls and/or sent good wishes so that truly ROCKED!

Our families even made a showing too (with an aunt and uncle even driving up from Florida). You can read all about it HERE at my other blog.

But I will share (for all of you doggie lovers out there) that Blue just loved all the gifts! The dogs goes wild when there are packages to open... he loves boxes, bags, tissue paper, etc. He would go stand on the packages and just watch me open, others he would get his nose right into the packages to see what they were - check it out:

Oh yeah -- for my knitting buddies... check out what my sister made:

I taught her how to knit once, and she decided that she was going to knit this kid a blanket... so she slaved over it and in the end came up with a beautiful handmade knit blanket. She swears she'll never knit again - but at least I have proof that she did it once!

After the party, the entire family went out to dinner - which was also lovely. But by 10:30pm I was ready to hit the sack -- this was one terrific day but sure enough a good way to tire a pregnant lady out!

Bunco!!!

2006-09-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

Today my best friend Ilene arrived... and even though we've been friends for twenty years this was the first time she has even seen my home (this home or any home). We spent the afternoon getting ready for the shower and then went out for manicures and pedicures (which is a terrific way to spend the afternoon with a friend!)

In the evening we (Ilene, Becca - my sister, and I) headed to a neighbor's house for our monthly Bunco game!!! Now this month was at Heather's house... and even though Heather is a mother of two she is still one WILD chick! She had surprise gifts for everyone there (you got a rose when you walked in with a number on it... she called out a number and you got to pick from a number of bags). Well Ilene got a pair of thong underwear, my sister a cute charm bracelet and myself a really nice tank top. Here I am with my prize:

The night was a lot of fun and Heather had plenty of booze (which I can't touch) some good food and my favorite a chocolate fountain!!! Ilene won one of three big money prizes - she was happy about that:

And Becca almost won but lost in a roll-off:

All in all we had a ton of fun and I think the gals are ready to come back next month to do it all again!

The Amazing Rocker Chopper

2006-09-07T23:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today I ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off in preparation for this weekend's events. My friend and sister are hosting a baby shower for me on Saturday and I wanted to make sure all was in order for them to be able to do that (house clean and tidy, stuff bought, etc.)

My sister and her husband arrived this evening as the first guests of the weekend. We had a lovely evening together that included dinner at the Outback (their favorite) and then it was back to our house for some more conversation and a surprise gift. You see my brother-in-law had been working on a secret gift for the new baby for the last two months. We knew he was working on something but had no idea what... well this is what it was

YUP!!! That's right!! He made the baby-to-be a Rocker Chopper in Orange and Blue. This this is SOOOO Cool!!!! He pretty much carved and chiseled it by hand, and then painted all this cool stuff on it! The handle bars are real bike handle bars as are the tires! This thing rocks!

My house is clean and shiny!!!

2006-09-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Whoo Hoo Hoo!!! Today was the day the cleaning crew arrived! Oh lordy lordy! How I love these folks. This time it was just a man and a woman and boy oh boy did they clean my house well! I did lots of loads of laundry while they cleaned (washing everything I could get my hands on) and by the time we were all done my house was sparkling again! The wood floors look great, the bathrooms sang, and the house was nearly dust free! Couple that with the fact the dogs got a hardy bath this morning - and I am on cloud 9!

Some sewing projects for the baby's room

2006-09-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

Well there has been a lack of knitting going on here in my house but no lack of crafting. I made some curtains for the baby's room and I sewed some pillows too (one for the glider rocker I have and one for a dogs bed). I actually made the curtains twice and here's why...

I bought a bunch of fabric (without measuring of course) and when I put them on the window raw (before sewing) there looked to be plenty of extra fabric. So I washed the fabric (since I figure I'll take the curtains down at least once a year to clean) and then sewed the raw edges and hemmed them as well. When I put the curtains back up - they had shrunk a good 5 or 6 inches!! YIKES! This made them WAY too short to hang as curtains. So back to the store it was for me!

I got a different fabric, this time a lovely blue flannel, and a TON of it - over 8 yards to be sure. I washed and dried it (to shrink the heck out of it), re-measured, cut, sewed, lightly ironed and finally hung them. Here is what they look like:

I just love them! They are soft and resemble a blanket, and the color is a perfect match for the blue stars on the shade. I hung them just by hanging a curtain rode and slinging them over in a fancy way. I then pinned the curtains in several places to make sure they don't go anywhere! I also have plenty of leftover fabric (about 3 yards) to create something else with.

Then with the fabric from the first attempt at curtains I decided to make some throw pillows for the room. Nothing really fancy here - just a square and a rectangle with a zipper. The square one is for the rocking chair and is just stuffed with some pillow filler for now. The dogs pillow is stuffed with an old bedroom pillow (minus some stuffing to get it to fit in the case) so I can wash the cover from time to time. Check them out:

Not too shabby huh!?!

Crash....

2006-09-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

Good heavens, it's been a weekend full of house improvements. We are working to get the house ready for the baby shower, that's coming up next weekend and we are in a mad dash to complete a mile long list of things to do. From silly things like "install a closet rod in the guest room closet" to big things like "install bead board in upstairs bathroom to make it look more like a North Carolina Beach" and everything in between. I cleaned and reorganized my office, and then the upstairs extra guest room, and then the baby's room. Michael worked on the construction stuff... the closet rod, the bead board, framing out the door for his media closet in the theater, hanging pictures, etc. I will post pictures of each improvement later in the week when they are actually complete.

However the other news yesterday was that I got into a bit of a fender bender... literally. I pulled into a parking space and I hit a parked car. Yup! You read right... I hit a PARKED CAR! The car I hit was in the parking space crooked and over the line - I thought I had enough clearance but NOPE! CRUNCH! Oh I felt horrible. Not only because I now had to call my husband and tell him what happened, but also because I had to go into the store and have the owner of this car paged and let that person know what I had done.

So I first called Michael, crying of course, to tell him. He wasn't exactly happy with me, especially since we just had a talk about our budget. Then I went into the store and had the owner of the car paged. This nice, young, 25 ish girl comes over and says "yes, that's my car." I looked at her with tears in my eyes... and then in near hysterics and said "I'm SOOOO sorry I just hit your car!" She was so nice about it. We went outside and I showed her what I had done and just kept saying how sorry I was. She was so nice telling me she just wasn't that attached to her car and really it was fixable. I apologized for ruining her weekend (given the fact that it's the long holiday weekend) and she responded, "don't worry - it's been a wonderful weekend - this hasn't ruined it." Here is what the back of her nice car now looks like:

And here is what the front of my somewhat nice car now looks like:

So we talked for a bit... exchanged information.. and the girls mom was there and she told me of a story of how she pulled out of a parking spot and t-boned a Mercedes (probably to make me feel less horrible). I then waited outside, crying, while they finished their shopping because I was too afraid to back out of the spot in fear that I'd hit her car again. They came out and saw me there, crying, and they felt bad for taking so long inside the store (hey it's was me who hit her car and me who feels horrible!) This girl really couldn't have been any nicer! Which made me feel even worse.

So I cried all the way home, and then once I got home, cried even more. I don't do well with guilt and I just felt sooooo guilty. The manager of the store, the girl, her mother, and a sweet woman who was outside the store at the time all told me how terrific it was that I went in and told the girl what I had done (rather than just took off). GOSH - I feel this guilty for what I had done and I owned up to it - I can't even imagine how I'd feel if I had run! That wasn't even an option!

So I just chalk this up to "pregnancy brain" since I can't figure out how I misjudged the space -- and I pray that between my car and hers it's not going to cost me an arm, or a leg, or my first born (who at this point I am so not willing to give up!)

And for the record... I am ok, baby is ok, and Michael.... well he says he is ok (even though he wasn't in the car).... so we'll see! And my car... well it needs a new front light and a new bumper... with some cash and a visit to the collision shop - it should be ok too!

UPDATE: Looks like all the repairs (to her car and my car) will be around $1200. GRRRRRR - that's one really nice video camera if you ask me!

Good bye my stash....

2006-09-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

Well I finally sold the last of the stash yarn I had up for sale of eBay! Whoo hoo hoo! I made enough money to pay for nice cloth diapers and the Ergo Carrier... OR a new Mac Mini... OR a new flash for my digital SLR camera. Hmmmmm - this will be a hard choice. Actually I think we are going to do an initial order of some nice cloth diapers out of it and the ergo carrier... then I think I'll still have money left over for either the Mac Mini or the new flash. Such hard choices. Thanks to everyone who helped me de-stash. I still have loads more yarn in my stash - but this was a much needed reduction (which also allowed me to free up space for my new fabric stash).

How is it that we crafters tend to create major stashes? I know that I scrapbook, knit/crochet, sew, bead, and really whatever else tickles my fancy - and I have stashes of each. Is it that we can't pass up a sale? Or that we feel that when we see cute stuff we MUST buy it because who knows if we are going to see it again? Anyone know why we stash?

2006-08-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

In dog news... we decided last night that the change would be to put the dogs in one big kennel downstairs (in the basement). I didn't feel too guilty since we have a REALLY nice finished basement and we spent a lot of time and money getting it nice (it's not just some unfinished dungeon where we are sticking them). I wasn't sure how it was going to be putting them in one kennel (since they are usually separated) but figured if Orange is having issue he might like to sleep next to Blue (poor Blue - he didn't ask for any of this!) Well we put them downstairs and they barked a bit... but once we came upstairs to our room we heard NOTHING!!! That's right!! NOTHING!! Now it didn't storm last night so for all I know they didn't bark... but regardless - we slept in silence and we actually SLEPT!!! Oh how nice! Happy Day!

Tonight we went to see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - a traveling version of the popular Broadway show. I got some last minute tickets and convinced Michael that we should have "one last hurrah" before el baby arrives. The show was really cute and all in all it was a nice night out (complete with dinner before hand). If you swing over to my other BLOG you can see pictures of me all dressed up (tummy and all!)

Another storm

2006-08-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah, if one night wasn't enough... we had a storm again last night. We knew we couldn't keep letting the dogs out of their kennel when they bark (ok it's really just Orange). So we let them bark.... and bark... and bark... and bark. I stayed in bed, for over 100 minutes listening to the dogs bark. I watched the fan go around and around. I got up to put the TV on for them hoping that at least the noise and light would help calm them (really Orange). Well that didn't do it either. So I rolled over to a husband who was sleeping and said "ok... SOMETHING has got to change... I can't take it anymore!"

Well the poor husband was asleep (I honestly wasn't sure if he was or not until he was pissed that I woke him up!) and now that I woke him shot me this look like "what do you want ME to do?" So I said "we either need to let them out of their kennels at night OR we need to relocate their kennels to another floor of the house!" My intention was to just let them out of their kennels but Michael decided that discipline was the way to go - so he proceeded to yell at them (the standard "NO, HUSH") and shake the sacred "shake can" which is a soda can filled with pennies. This usually works - except when it's storming like it was last night.

So I got up an announced "I'll be on the couch." Which left poor Michael to fight it out with the dogs - for the next 2 hours. He finally gave up, went down to his office and researched how to break a dog of their fear of thunder - that's my husband! When you have a problem... turn to the internet to see how to research it's solution! Gosh our kid's going to be in a world of trouble!

Stormin in Georgia

2006-08-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

Good heavens, last night it stormed something horrible. Of course it waits until we were all tucked nicely in our beds and then BOOM CRASH -- the heavens opened up and the thunder roared. It seemed like it was one giant continuous rumble of thunder that JUST DIDN'T WANT TO STOP. So this of course caused major issues with the dogs. Orange is so afraid of the thunder and lightening and nothing we can do has ever seemed to calm him down. I know it would just be easier to drug him (a little dose of children's Benedryl won't hurt every now and again) but I feel so guilty doing it as lift isn't always easy. (He has been barking in the middle of the night for a few weeks now, storm or no storm - and it's been driving up mad since he's been sleeping just fine in his kennel for YEARS now!!!)

So after listening to Orange bark for nearly a hour (in his defense it was really a bad storm!!!) Michael and I decided to just let them out of their kennels (they still sleep in kennels as they have since they were a puppy and we like it that way). After being let out Orange ran around huffing and growling at the storm (it was really a bad storm - have I said that already). So around 3:30am Michael and I decided that since we weren't getting any sleep we should at least get up and look out the window to enjoy the storm.

The thunder was really ongoing and the lightening was lightening up the sky better than the fireworks on the 4th of July. We watched for a while and then attempted to get back into bed ... with the dogs sleeping on their bed in our room. Well Orange still wanted no part of this as he was just too nervous to sleep. So at 7+ months pregnant I got my fat ass out of bed and curled up on the dogs bed located on my bedroom floor. Orange slept on/near my head and blue at my feet. It was the most sleep I've gotten in weeks. So last night will forever be remembered as the storm that was so bad I had to sleep on the floor with dogs!

Great Deal on Yarn

2006-08-26T23:58:00.000-07:00

For all of you knitters and crocheters out there - the time has come for me to de-stash a bit! There are things I want to get for the baby-to-be (an Ergo carrier, cloth diapers, etc.) and I need to get some money in my PayPal account to be able to afford them (because if there is anything that can frustrate a husband more than buying yarn it's buying things for a new baby -- since those items seem to cost more than yarn and can seem really silly since the kid isn't even here yet!)

Therefore I am listing a bunch of my yarn stash on ebay. I started listing everything tonight but since it's nearing my bedtime I will continue tomorrow. There are some GREAT deal so head on over and check them out. (WHOLE cones of yarn for cheap, a ton of Optimum Wool, even some Trekking XXL sock yarn - along with some other fun stuff.) If there is any yarn you are looking for or would like to know if I have (and am willing to sell) - you can email me directly at alreillygator AT yahoo DOT com. There are some things I might not list on ebay but would be happy to sell (Remember - I have a HUGE stash). Let me know colors, fibers, brands and amounts - I take requests.

You can find my listings HERE or just type in my seller name "twodogsandaroomate" - Feel free to pass this along to any other fiber addicts out there! (And don't worry-- even with this destashing I still have plenty left to knit/crochet with and NO I am not giving up the hobby - just in need of some cash!)

Post By Ilene - Alison's BFF

2006-08-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to all of Ali's blog readers - My name is Ilene and I will be posting for Alison today. If you are wondering who I am, you should know that Alison and I have been best friends since we were 12 and living in the Bronx. (OH the pictures I could share and stories I could tell!) However what I am here to tell you today is that on Saturday, September 9th, I will be throwing a baby shower in Georgia to celebrate the arrival of Alison and Mike's baby-to-be.

We all know that Alison is one crafty woman! If something can be glued, sewn, knit, or crocheted, Alison will figure out a way to create something beautiful from it. Therefore I wanted to have all the people near and dear to Alison and Michael create a little something for them... and this includes you all - her blog readers!

I have some cool cards that I am asking people to decorate any way they see fit. You might want to write a little note to the parents or baby-to-be. Maybe you have some advice to share. Or maybe you’d like to pass along a blessing or two. You are more than welcome to decorate this card with more than words (stickers, pictures, you get the idea). If you feel this card is too small, go crazy and make something bigger – the choice is yours. But no pressure on your creativity as I am just looking for a little something from everyone to make sure the people they know and love are included. All the cards will be included in a scrapbook for the new baby to enjoy for years to come.

If you'd like to participate by decorating a card for Ali and Mike, please email me at ilenezwoods AT yahoo DOT com. Make sure to include your full name and mailing address in the email. I'll send you a card and a self-addressed envelope of where to mail the card back to. (And if you'd like an invite to the shower, let me know that too!) Together we can welcome their new bundle of joy in style!!!

Remember, when you email me at ilenezwoods AT yahoo DOT com you need to replace the AT with @ and the DOT with . Thanks for your help! – Ilene

Oh No - Quilting issues

2006-08-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

Today was errand day (since Michael was out of town) and one of those errands was to swing by JoAnns and switch the blue fabric for my quilts boarders with one of the correct size. I entered the store with my recipt and the piece of fabric that was too short, headed for the section that holds these quilts, and found just one left of the same pattern that I had. I then took everything up to the counter and the woman was really nice. She told me she'd just exchange it for me and in less than 30 seconds we were done and I was on my way.

However, I stopped short of the door and asked her if I could borrow her counter to measure the piece to make sure I wasn't getting a piece that was too short again. So I did and guess what - it too was too short (and I had bought my kit at a different JoAnn's if anyone is keeping score). She called the manager over and I explained the issue. The manager was shocked! We headed back to the fabric counter and found the rest of the kits (no more in my pattern but there were other different ones there) and we measured others). They were all too short! AHHHHHHHHH

They were really nice and offered to just cut me fabric from their stock but of course there was no blue plush fabric to be found. So I had to settle for red. It wasn't what I wanted but there wasn't any better option. I didn't want to return the whole thing becauase I spent a few hours cutting and sewing the squares together.

I figure it will be a learning experince for me -- a) measure all pieces before cuttign, and then b) cut all pieces before sewing part of it together. While it's not the pretty and fun blue quilt I wanted - it will be my first and for that I am grateful they helped as much as they could... So here is what it will look like - once it goes all together:

But I do have a question... the back is supposed to be a green and white striped flannel material with the boarder (now red) around it. However I now have extra square pieces to make another side with squares like the first. It's not as soft as the flannel, of course - but I could just put some quilt batting in the middle to make it plush and this way both sides have quilted squares... what do you think???

Quilting Project

2006-08-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

Since Michael is out of town tonight I decided to start working on making the quilt from the quilt kit I bought at JoAnns. I cut all the squares first and then decided to sew them together. It worked out just fine and here they are, sewn together:

Then as a next step I decided I was going to cut the 8 pieces of boarder I needed from the blue fuzzy fabric in the kit. But there was a problem. The fabric that was included was supposed to be 20.5" x 34.5" so I could cut pieces that were 2" x 33.5" -- sounds simple enough right?!?! Well when I measured I discovered that the fabric they inlcuded was only 30" long... I was shorted a whole 4.5" and would thereby not be able to cut long enough pieces to make the boarders!

GRRRRR -- so it's off to JoAnns tomorrow to get new fabric!

New Laundry Detergent

2006-08-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy weekend for sure! Yesterday we went shopping for table pad for our new table. Well there wasn't much shopping to be done - we simply had to go over to the store and pick out the color we wanted and then pay for it. A simple task that took over an hour to complete - not from our side... the sales man was just SLOW! Then last night we had our friends over for dinner - which ended in a late night of chatting but was fun nevertheless!

And then today has been filled with lots of loads of laundry!!! (I can't clean my house for sh*t but I can do some mean laundry!!!!) I bought a new all-natural, bio-degradeable detergent that we just love! Goodbye Tide, good bye Bounce fabric sheets!! Check out how much of this new stuff you have to use per load:

That's right - ONE TABLESPOON per load! This new stuff doesn't use any add additives, any fragrences, anything that is unneccessary to clean my clothing. This makes it better for our clothing, better for our skin, and better for the enviroment. And it costs just 12 cents per load!!! (Which is way cheaper than the Tide I was buying at Costco). I am pretty excited about the stuff! If you want to know more - leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send you a referral for it! Really - I am in love ---- I need a life!

Furniture Delivery

2006-08-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today's excitment.... New Furnitre!!! That's right folks, today we got several pieces of new furniture deliver to help complete our house. First there was the very heavy dining room set:

This included a very large table, 10 chairs and a heavier than hell side bar! (The table has another leaf that is supposed to go in - that's why all 10 chairs don't fit at the moment). We can't use it until we get a table pad for it (that we'll order from a local store tomorrow) - but you get the idea!

We also had the baby's dresser delivered today:

It's black and really pretty! It goes with the crib quite nicely if you ask me! We had the choice of natural, black or silver knobs - I like the silver ones the best!

And the other day we had the crib delivered:

So we are on our way to completing the house! Just a few more pieces are needed and then some art work and we'll be as good as done!

A good cleaning

2006-08-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well it's time! I finally broke down and called a cleaning lady. Yes, I know -- I work from home... part time... so why can't I clean my own house. Well for starters -- I SUCK AT IT! Really -- I am bad!!! I clean a great bathroom! I make a nice bed! I even do a pretty good job on the kitchen. But windows, floors and dusting - not my strong suit!

Michael's been saying for sometime that we needed to call someone. But I have been resisiting... it's expensive.... I'll do it.... I'm just trying to save money. But alas it was time. Even the dogs are looking at me saying "not even I would eat off these floors!" And when the dogs that will eat poop outside won't eat off the floor in my house - it's most certinally time for some intervention!

So I called Susan! Susan came out with her partner and we walked through the house together pointing out the areas and issues I wanted special care placed while she told me all the things they do. She asked "did I want my silver polished?" HA -- I had to laugh!! Lady - I am from the Bronx... I don't own any silver! I wanted to know, did women really want their silver polished on a weekly/monthly basis??? She assured me that in deed they do - and she'll polish things like the mixing bowl and my stainless steel garbage cain. Ok - that was really funny to me!

Well since I can no longer see my feet (now I can bend over to see them, but standing straight up they are no where in sight) we decided that she should probably start sooner rather than later. We have a bit of construction going on in the house (minor stuff but it creates dirt and dust nevertheless) so she is going to start in early September, and then come just once a month after that! A small price to pay for a clean house and one where my dogs will feel comfortable again about eating off the floor!

Dentist

2006-08-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

Good heavens, has another 6 months gone by? For those of you who are careful about their teeth, you'll know I am talking about the fact that it was time for another teeth cleaning. Every six months like clockwork I drag my butt kicking and screaming (yes I look like a skit from Saturday Night Live) to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned and checked. It's tourture. No matter how many times per day I brush and no matter how many times per week I floss - I always come out of the office with an "issue" that either needs to be taken care of or watched. This time was no different.

The nurse said my teeth looked great! They were clean and shinny. My gums were good too - although a little puff (which happens to pregnant women so it's normal). However they did discover that one of my teeth just might have some decay and another might have a crack. GREAT!! And the best part - they aren't 100% sure since we can't do any x-rays now anyway. So I am to come back in 6 months and we'll look at it then. Wondeful!

I really want to know who grows up and says "I want to be a dentist!"? Really? Is it not just the most awful profession? No one looks forward to going to the dentist. No one says "oh I'd go see him/her everyday if I could." I am usually so picky about my dentist that 6 months ago I actually went back to my dentist in AZ (since a trip we had was timed in such a way to allow for it). But now I had to break down and find a new one in Georgia.

So what do I look for in a dentist.... well first I make sure that there is no fire and brimstone around the main office... and that the office staff isn't carrying around pitchforks. Then when I am in the chair I make sure to read the degrees on the wall to make sure he/she wasn't trained in Satan's School of Tourture (although sometimes I swear they were). Really -- I mean it! To me the dentist is as close to hell as one could get!

But yes I survived another cleaning... who knows what the next 6 months will bring... except more brushing, more flossing, and some daily prayers that whatever "issues" my teeth have today will somehow take care of itself!

Internet and TV

2006-08-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's a funny world we live in that most of us are pretty connected to our computers. We rely on our computers for work, news, for entertainment, for communication, for gathering information, etc. Well two sets of our neighbors have been without their internet access since the lightening strike last week - so we have opened our homes/computers/and internet access to them. One neighbor (a stay at home mom) has come down a few times to use our guest computer (yes we have an extra computer in our home that we dedicate to guests). She has checked email and done whatever work she needed to. We offered her a key to our home and told her that the computer is there for her any time she needs it.

Well today my door bell rang and it was the other set of neighbors (both husband and wife work from home using their computers). The wife said they had been driving up and down the street with their computers hoping to pick up someone's wireless network signal. Unfortunately, everyone in the neighborhood has their encrypted (just so people couldn't drive up and down the block "stealing" access). So she wanted to know if we could unlock ours so they could use it to check their mail, download/upload files, etc.

After I stopped laughing I made them come inside (rather than sit in our driveway) and unlocked our wireless network for them to use. We offered them too a key and told them to feel free to use our home/network anytime they need. Well I think the husband felt bad about bothering us in our home again so later today I saw this:

YUP!!! That's the neighbor sitting in his car outside our house using our internet! I went outside and told him to just come in - he responded that he just needed up upload/download files and that it would only take a minute, not worth bothering us when the signal reaches to his car. I just found this really funny! And I felt like a bad hostess (even though I am not officially hosting them) since I didn't have fresh baked cookies or anything to bring out to his car to offer him :-) Hopefully his internet will be up soon because I am sure he is getting annoyed driving the 100 feet to our house to use the internet!

Today we got another site for sore eyes:

YUP!!! That's the Direct TV man coming to give us our TV access back (that has been out since the lightening strike). It took several days to get them here and while I am not addicted to TV, I hate not being able to watch the news every day (not to mention missing the Daily Show and the Steven Colbert Report!) So I am off now to sit on the couch and watch real, live, TV!!!! Whoo hoo hoo!

Gifts from Linda

2006-08-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

Michael's Mom has a favorite cousin named Linda. I've had the pleasure of meeting her once or twice and she is truly a lovely lady! Well she sent me (us) two packages that were a complete surprise...

The first package contained two balls of yellow yarn (Pingouin Epange)! It's the prettiest baby color and her note suggests that I should make some booties, or maybe even a hat! Sounds good to me!

The second package contained three books - one a pregnancy cookbook, one a crochet book with patterns for kids (Too Cute Crochet), and the other a knit/crochet book with patterns for kids (Family Circle Easy Knits for Kids)! Oh they are so cute - I can't wait to get started on them!

Linda - Thank you so much for thinking of me (us) -- I just love them and will make beautiful things with them ... I promise!

Goodies for the dogs

2006-08-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

When my mom and her hubbie were here last month they brought lots of little goodies for the new baby, but not a thing for Orange and Blue. Now this didn't bother me in the least (I don't expect them to come with any gifts) - but Orange and Blue seemed pretty bothered. You see they LOVE getting mail as much as I do (even more I'd guess) and any time there is a package or box that comes into the house they think it's for them! You should see how nuts they go with a big UPS or FedEx box! It's like mass hysteria.

Well Mom felt guilty hearing this (and seeing them go crazy when she brought out several boxes) so she sent Orange and Blue a package this week. Poor Orange didn't even have a fighting chance to see it because once I brought it inside Blue was all over it!

He would try to scratch at it but when that didn't work (because with wood floors the package would just slide across the floor) he then tried to pick it up and take it to his pillow:

So I felt kind of bad now (ok I was getting great joy in watching him but he was getting frustrated) so I opened it up for him and he was all over this new entry point into the package (even stuck his whole head in there a few times):

I then pulled out the BIG box of dog treats and he was once again determined to get inside the box by scratching:

And even tried to haul it away to his pillow where I am sure he thought he'd have better luck (notice the speed):

When all is said and done he let me open the box and then he stuck his entire head in and grabbed for a treat (or two) and took those back to his bed. And once he did Orange was able to get a treat or two for himself! So thanks Mom and Gerry - the love their gift and will continue to enjoy the BIG box for a long time to come!

Sewing Project

2006-08-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

I joined a sew-a-long a while ago called "Sew? I Knit!" Its a great chance to make fun stuff with my sewing machine and have used the sew-a-long to make myself several skirts. Along with the skirt project (which I completed) I had also bought patterns to make a bag and a shirt with the group, but never got around to making them (and the shirt is now on hold due to the very large and constantly growing belly that is standing in the way of a good fitting). However their next project is to make a quilt and I have always wanted to quilt. So I took myself to Joann's the other day and bought this:

Yup - it's a ready to be made quilt. Well - "ready" is relative since I still have to cut all the pieces and sew them all together - but it had directions and the fabric included so that was somewhat ready for me. It's got a doggie theme -- figure it's perfect for baby-to-be. Now I just need to make the time to get it all together!

Hit by Lightening

2006-08-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

Well today our house was hit by lightening. It was the craziest thing. But before I go on I should assure you all that we are fine, our dogs are fine, and all things considered... the house is fine. We had a horrible storm come over in an instant with some thunder and lightening and it quickly got closer and closer to our house. In an instant one bolt struck our house, and two of our neighbors (at least that we know of) and of the three houses here is the damage...

1) K & B's house has NO power. The fire department came after the wife called them and they told her NOT to try and turn anything on due to the fact that she smelled smoke. She was to call an electrician before trying to use anything in her house. When we called her to see how she was, she told us that she had been sitting on the couch in their living room and when the bolt struck she felt the bolt go through her body. She is ok - thank gosh - but a little freaked out as you can imagine!

2) A & J house is right next door to K & B. The strike blew their TV out, their phone out (not the line just the cordless phone bases), their A/C unit in their upstairs, their two garage doors, and their internet... and it woke up their twin 4-year olds ... but other than that they are ok

3) Our house - The bolt struck outside my office window and then to the left of Michaels head (INSIDE THE HOUSE). It was very bright and very loud! As soon as it happened I ran downstairs since I knew it hit the house and that was WAY too close for me. When I started down to the basement (where Michael's office is) he was starting to come upstairs. He had these wide eyes and that's when he told me it hit right near his head. The strike blew out an outlet in his office and thereby shutting off all equipment in his office. Thank gosh he was a) not hurt and b) had a surge protector on that outlet and all equipment was plugged into the protectors and thereby saved. He was a little freaked (to say the least) but we are both fine. We also think that it blew out our Direct TV dish since we have no TV - but we won't know until Tuesday (the first day a technician can come out).

And that's it. We know it could have been a LOT worse!!! Thank gosh Michael, I or the dogs weren't hit. And thank gosh that it didn't cause major damage to the house. And for the first time - we realize and appreciate the fact that we have good surge protectors (before I just thought they could be a waste of money because really - are they ever needed?). Once they are hit we can't use them again (trust us - he plugged one in another outlet and it sparked and smoked!) but they were well worth the money!

And for the record - Michael isn't sure it actually hit the house directly... he think it just might have hit the electrical line and that is what brought it inside the house. But that's the saga for tonight!! Never a dull moment here in the Southeast!!!

From my SP8

2006-08-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Ohhh today I got my latest and last Secret Pal Package for SP8. Inside it looked like this:

When opened it up I found these:

Inside was a cool toy, a pen with sheep on it, a beautiful magnet for my collection from the place where my pal lives, a Jimmy Bean Pattern for a baby sweater, and two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepard's Worsted yarn in a chocolate brown color!! YUMMY!!!

OH - and my pal was.... ummm.... shit! I misplaced the card she put in with her name/blog. And here she was all worried that in the beginning she reveled herself in the comments section... of which I promised her I wouldn't go to see who she was... and I didn't. But now when I get to brag who she was and how nice she was - I can't even find her name to do that with!!! *BLUSH*

So SP8 - please comment here with your name and blog address so I can announce to the world who you are and how great you are! Thanks for everything this was a fun SP.

I will be taking the next round off as my scatter-brain has gotten worse as the pregnancy goes on! Have fun everyone in the next Secret Pals round and I'll see you soon!

Some small home improvements

2006-08-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

Since Michael was off traveling today - I figured it was a great day to get some basic home improvement shopping out of the way... you know the shopping where you get stuff to make your home pretty but serve no real purpose other than that.

Well today I went to Costco to pick up pictures that I got developed (to hang in our newly hung picture frames), and then to Old Time Pottery to pick up some candle holders, fancy river rocks to place in the bottom of those holders, and some colored hand towels to put in the fancy baskets we put in the bathroom. Then it was off to Pike Nursery to buy some basic house plants (you know - the ones that it takes work to kill) since when we left Arizona I gave all of our house plants to our friend and neighbor Norah (hey Norah - how are they all doing?) I also had to purchase a small shallow pot to plant one of the plants in so I could put it in one of the fancy baskets in our bathroom. The last stop was Wal-Mart for candles, Spanish moss (again for the fancy baskets) and other assorted items not related to home improvement shopping (like a clear quilting ruler).

Over the weekend we hung several frames in our upstairs hallway (pictures of us, pictures of our parents, etc) and had four large collage frames that needed to be filled. So I decided to make two dedicated to family and two dedicated to friends. Which left a long list of pictures that needed to be developed. I did a smart thing (if I do say so myself) and that is I shrunk down and places several pictures within one 5x7 picture to be developed and then cut later on. This way I knew I'd have some small enough to fit in the openings in the frame. Others I left at normal size (4x6). Well this strategy worked like a champ and we now have a full wall of family and friends missing only one first cousin on Michael's side and two (ish) first cousins on my side. Pretty darn good if you ask me! Check it out:

Then I figure I can show you this:

That is the fireplace mantel with the new candles/holders on one side (the other side has my two Lladro Statues). Now we just need a picture for the middle and we'll be set! And here are the fancy baskets in the 1/2 bathroom:

What do you think? I think it looks pretty good and brings some life into the bathroom. Now I just need to figure out what to fill the bottom basket with? Any suggestions?

A crochet project - WIP

2006-08-06T22:50:00.000-07:00

Ok so yesterday was a wash - we did NOTHING as we didn't even want to walk anywhere. We did, however, have a nice dinner out with friends. Today we hung some pictures in the house, I "cleaned" the house, and we did grocery shopping (fun huh??) Friends came over for dinner with their 2 month old - and really - that was our day!

However I couldn't leave you picture less so here is the crochet project I am working on:

It's just a simple double crochet blanket using Caron Simply Soft (two rows of each color - three colors in all). It's for the baby (of course) and it's just a small blanket to go in the car seat/stroller... that sort of thing. Its brainless and it doesn't make me sick (which is good)... now I just need the energy to do it!

NYC day 3

2006-08-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

Good heavens I am tired. My feet hurt, my back hurts and really - I just want to sleep. So I lazed around in the hotel room until Michael was done with work for the day. when he came back we checked out of the hotel and went walking around the city. There were really no plans for the day as we didn't want to hang around the tourist stuff. However my friend Ilene told me to head over to Serendipity 3 to have a Frozen Hot Chocolate. Now who am I to argue with that?!?! So we walked the 13+ blocks to 60th and 2nd Ave only to find a line out the door... it was over a 90 minute wait! You couldn't even get near the door it was so packed... so forget that! Sorry Ilene - next time!

Down the block there was a great candy store that I just had to stop in at (because I love candy). Now I wasn't about to pay the NYC prices for candy in a trendy store - but it was fun to look. Check out their stairs lined with candy:

And at the bottom was this:

For lunch we had some pizza at a random local pizza joint! YUMMY!!! While we were eating I noticed the menu on the wall where I saw this:

You see - depending on what part of the country you live in depends on what you call a large sandwich. Some people call it a "sub" other a "hoagie" and yet in NYC it's a "hero!" I was so excited to see it in writing because for most of my life I ate HEROS rather than a sub or a hoagie! What do you (my readers) call it where you live?

From there we walked to Central Park, around the outside of the zoo and then just sat in the park since our feet were killing us. It was a lovely day to sit and people watch in the park. We hung out a bit there, for a long while - just soaking in the beautiful park. When it was time to go I wanted to walk along 5th Avenue (the one with all the expensive shops). Our first stop was the new Apple Store located below the great FAO toy store.

I have been very impressed with all the Apple commercials lately and while I normally don't get swayed by ad campaigns I have been itching to get my hands on a new MAC. So into the store we went and we found a nice salesman who helped us by answering all of our questions. Apple has come a long way since the last time I used one (back in the 6th grade) and they have made a nice nitch with multi-media. They seem to offer user friendly computers for the user who wants graphical capabilities or the multi-media experience (with videos and pictures). Michael would still need a windows based PC as there are functions on the mac that just won't cut it for him - but I don't know... I am still itching for one. However I think it's just because I am a gadget geek! I LOVE my PC (except for the virus thing and when it crashes) but I'd love to have a more user friendly machine for making DVDs of the new kiddo. I know I can get software for my PC - but the one I work on is several years old, and needs some upgrades before I can use it with a video camera (namely a DVD-R and some more memory). So not sure if we are going to upgrade this one or spend the money on a MAC mini and that way I get to play with both (Yes I am a geek!!!)

Anyway - after that fun experience we visited FAO Schwartz! I just love toys stores, especially ones that are really big and carry everything! We didn't go into buy anything (and we didn't) but I got to look around for a few minutes. Of course I just had to take a picture with Patrick:

From there it was more walking along 5th Ave, then back to our hotel to get the car and head to the airport. Nothing like rush hour in NYC and then there is nothing like the lines at LaGuardia Airport. We were able to catch a flight an hour earlier than our scheduled flight and now we're home (it's still late) and ready for bed!

NYC day 2

2006-08-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up and took the subway down to Soho to meet Illanna down at The Point - knitting store and cafe. It was totally dead due to the summer time and the heat - but that just meant that we got to hang with Rebecca - the lovely manager. Its a great store - small - but the space is well used. They have a cafe with lots of great treats.

From there we headed over to Purl Patchwork and fondled the fabrics for a bit! It was a lot of fun seeing beautifully chosen fabrics - and I even bought two fat quarters as gifts for myself:

We left there and went two shops down to Purl Soho. This store was MUCH smaller then I thought it would be but again they had it packed floor to ceiling with yarn - and really good yarns at that. I didn't buy anything but had a great time looking.

Illanna and I then had lunch (NYC pizza of course) and we headed up town by subway to visit School Products. I had been there once before and was amazed then at their lovely selection of cone-yarns that they buy from different companies as remnants from the production floor. This time I was disappointed to see that they had the exact same selection. Since I was there nearly a year and a half ago - you'd think they would have changed their selection by now.

From there we headed to Habu Textiles which has amazing yarns from Japan. It's so much fun to just go in and see and touch all the interesting creations. I wasn't in the buying mood (really I have so much yarn) but it was fun to hang out with Illanna and hit the different shops! We said our good byes and I headed back to the hotel to get changed for dinner.

I met my friend Joe at his job just a few block away from my hotel. He gave me a tour around his company (the publishing house for health magazines) and then we went to dinner at Marichu a lovely Spanish restaurant near the United Nations. Dinner was so good (as was the company) and it was just nice to see him again! We grew up together in the Bronx and each time we see each other it's like old times. I didn't take a picture of us (sorry mom) but you can see what he looks like in

NYC day 1

2006-08-02T23:41:00.000-07:00

Ok lets see - we are staying at a hotel around 48th Street and Lexington Ave in the heart of Midtown Manhattan! It's not the nicest hotel (by any stretch of the word) and given the fact that they charge over $250 per night - it's really not all that nice at all. But you can tell they tried really hard to gussy it up (they need to try harder) and they had clean beds, clean towels and a hot shower -- not to mention working A/C! So really - that was all I needed!!

Back to the trip - It seems that NYC is in the midst of a heat wave this week - lucky me! So I came prepared with shorts, tank tops, my Camelbak backpack (water hydration system), and my Kool Tie. I must say, given all of that I was pretty comfortable walking around the city in 100+ heat. I really didn't find it THAT hot today - but keep in mind of all of the hot places I have lived during the summer time: NYC, Boston, Arizona, Israel, Florida and Georgia. So really - when you look at those places and what their temps are... the 100+ temps aren't really that bad!

Well I left the hotel and walked several blocks to meet Nancy (of Bronx Girl Knits) at 41st and Broadway for lunch. On my way there I was walking totally not paying attention to anyone around me (because after all who knew I was there) and I heard "Alison..... Alison...." Now I didn't even turn around because again - who knew I was there?!? Well Illanna runs up to me to say hi!!! Illanna is my good friend from Arizona and she spends nearly two months in NYC every summer. I knew she was in the city and I was planning to surprise her at the Debbie Stoller event later in the day! But she had read my blog, knew I was in the city and just happened to be walking around the city killing time before the event. How cool is that?? So I invited her to lunch with me and Nancy!

We met Nancy for lunch a little while later and had a great time. Nancy is so beautiful and quite amazing! She doesn't post enough pictures of herself on her blog so I hardly recognized her when we first met! We had a fantastic lunch at a local cafe and although we had never met we totally knew all about each other from reading the blogs. It so nice to meet someone in person for the first time and already know them! Here is me, Nancy and Illanna as we pose for the camera (notice the Kool Tie around my neck):

She even brought a cute gift for the baby:

I love it!! It's from NYU (where she works) and I am so happy to get this child started off on the right foot when it comes to picking a good college! I just hope he knows that he has to pay to live in the city - I am way too broke for that!

From there Nancy had to go back to work (damn you work - how could you ruin the fun) so Illanna and I headed off to Bryant Park (or actually a bookstore across the street from the park) to listen to Debbie Stoller talk. She was talking about her new book "The Happy Hooker" and it was pretty good. She brought all types of samples from the book - and Illanna had a great time trying stuff on (I wasn't about to squeeze in anything with this belly!) I didn't lug any of my Stitch and Bitch books for her to sign (I was way too lazy for that) but I did manage to get a picture:

After the talk Illanna and I walked around the Garment District for a while checking out several bead/trim/button/fabric stores. I bought some frog-button toggles for mom (to match a baby sweater she has made):

(Hope you like them mom - they are really cool if you ask me!) And I also bought two things of fabric (3 yards each):

The brown fabric is to make the Amy Butler Cabo Halter Top (post baby and for next summer) and the red fabric is for a baby sling/pouch/wrap. The guy in the store says the brown is from Ann Taylor and that she used it to create something in her line -- sure... works for me! Together 6 yards of fabric were $30 so I was pretty happy about that!

After our day Illanna and I made plans to meet tomorrow and I headed back to the hotel to shower and pick up Michael. We had less than an hour to eat and go from 48th and Lexington to 54th and 10th. I had thought we'd take a cab but after seeing the traffic jam on the street I decided we could walk faster. We grabbed a hot dog on the street (as known as a Dirty Water Dog) and began to run across town. We jumped on the train for two whole stops and ran some more.

We made it to The Colbert Report taping studio with 15 seconds to spare (the invite letter said we had to be there by 6pm). When we got there we were ushered right inside (even though there were people standing outside in line) and we were signed in as guests. We waited in their lobby (nice chairs, nice air conditioning) and then got to meet Kate - the lovely woman who got us tickets. She insisted that I not be made to stand out in the hot sun and instead made sure we were bought into the air conditioned office and given water and drinks and stuff.

Kate is an amazing beautiful pregnant blogging chick who I am in awe of! She is 22 weeks pregnant and still runs 30+ miles a week! She looks fantastic and I am in awe of her little baby bump (much smaller then the one I had at that time!) We chatted like old friends (again I love the blogging world) and I found out that she is heading to the Emmy's in a few weeks since the show was nominated for 4!!! I am so totally going to watch the awards ceremony - you should too - because we all know TCR is so going to win!!! Kate brought us two t-shirts from the show:

And she also made sure we were treated as VIPs - totally cool! She couldn't stay and see the show with us but put us in the hands of her fellow co-worker. We were brought into the studio (looks a lot smaller in person) and were given the best seats. We were in there well before any other member of the audience and we got to watch John Stewart and Stephen do their throw back (where at the end of John's show he goes to Stephen to get the "what's up next") - well we got to see this live as John was just finishing taping his show. It was great as we usually watch both shows (on our DVR of course) and at the end of John's show I always say the words with John "and now we're going to check in with our good friend Stephen Colbert at The Colbert Report... STEPHEN!!!" So I actually got to see this in person!! Yes - I am a dork!

The audience was brought in and they had a pretty funny warm-up guy (the person who warms up the crowd and gets them laughing). Then Stephen came out and answered some questions - he seems really nice (a little older than on TV) and really funny! The show started and it was just a good time (complete with a few bloopers which are always fun!).

The guest on the show was Linda Hirshman - the feminist author of the book Get to Work. I have to say that I have never disagreed with a guest more then Linda Hirshman. She talked about how it was time that women stop staying home and get out in the working world! WOW!!! I was so frustrated by her talk (and cheered on Stephen every time he nailed her with words) that it was hard to listen to. I am a big believer in women but also in a women's right to choose - in ALL matters. It is my choice to work in the home or out of the home. I am educated and have worked hard in the outside world. I now choose - because I can - to stay home and raise my children. That is what being a woman in the 21st century is all about - choice!

Anyway - it was a TOTALLY fun taping and it made my trip! Michael really liked it too! Thanks KATE for everything!!! You're the best! We'll be looking for you at the Emmy's - good luck and go get 'em!

From there we walked back to our hotel - stopping for dinner at a local restaurant (wasn't anything special but it wasn't bad either). I must admit that it was a long and fun day with hot weather and a lot of walking - can't wait to get to bed!

Flying can suck

2006-08-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

Well I had quite the adventure tonight. For starters I dilly-dollied a little too much before leaving for the airport. I had smooth sailing until I hit the part of the highway that goes through downtown Atlanta - then it was bumper to bumper traffic. I was so worried that I wasn't going to make my flight on time (given security lines at the airport and the fact that in Atlanta you have to take a train to your terminal) that I called Delta to find out what gate I needed to go to so I could start running the moment I parked the car.

Well I come to find out that the plane is running 15 minutes late - and that makes me fell a little better because 15 additional minutes should make me right on time. But I "run" anyway (as much as I can run at the moment) and get to my gate with plenty of time to spare. They load us all on the plane (a little later than the 15 minute delay) and we taxi to the runway only to find out that we are number 30+ in line for take off AND they have halted all take-offs for weather. GREAT!

I hate flying this big (really uncomfortable) but now to be squished in a seat on a plane that isn't moving... GREAT!!! Well we end up leaving a full 2 hours late but because they pad their flight times we arrived only and hour ish late. I did get some good reading in and even managed to work on a crochet blanket for the baby! Michael was waiting there for me (his flight was late too) and we picked up the rental car and headed into the city.

It was a long trip - hopefully the flight home will be smoother!

Tote Exchange Bag has Arrived!!!

2006-08-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well I am off to NYC today... got my hair cut, bags packed, and agenda scheduled. If I don't blog while I'm there I will most certainly blog when I return home! OH also - I got my bag from the tote exchange and it's amazing!!! I LOVE IT!!! It's grey with green trim and a lovely silver button.

The best part - it even has knitted/felted compartments so I can put things in various places in the bag and not get them mixed up:

Oh how I love this bag!!!!

NYC here I come!!!

2006-07-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

Yeah - I just found out that Michael has a last minute trip to NYC and we got a flight using frequent flyer miles for me to go too! I leave tomorrow and I'll be back Friday - thank gosh the dog/house watcher works on such short notice! We'll be staying in the heart of Manhattan and I can't wait. Here is what I think I am going to do:

Tuesday:
Fly there in the evening

Wednesday:
See Debbie Stoller speak in Bryant Park (12:45pm)
Meet Nancy for lunch/coffee
Meet Kate for coffee (or maybe tomorrow)
See a live taping of The Colbert Report thanks to Kate!!

Thursday:
Go all around the garment district shopping at fabric, trim, and ribbon stores
Visit School Products (again)
Have dinner with my great friend Joe and possibly his wife

Friday:
Head down to Purl Soho and Purl Patchwork, and maybe even hit The Point and Suss Designs in the morning
Do something in the afternoon (all though I have no idea what)
Fly home at night

The one snag to my brilliant planning is that NYC is going to be in the middle of a heat wave by the time I get there - they are expecting over 100 degree temps and when you add humidity to the mix - it's going to be nasty! I plan to take my Kool-Tie, Camelbak, Naglene bottle, and lots of shorts and tank tops! Should be a good time had by all (and will make Georgia look cool when we return!)

Fishies all around

2006-07-30T23:29:00.000-07:00

Today Mom and Gerry treated us to a trip to the new Georgia/Atlanta Aquarium. It was packed (being a Saturday and all) but it was a lot of fun. The Aquarium just opened in January and it gets so packed that you have to secure tickets ahead of time. The tickets are very expensive (to just go in and look at fish and all) but they really did a nice job with the place - good enough to admit that I'd go back... at some point of course (just not tomorrow).

I put together a slide show of some of the over 200 pictures I took while we were there. I can't believe how good some of them came out! They are as if I am underwater taking them, ok actually they are better than that... Check out the show HERE. (Sorry I had put the slide show in at first and it didn't work - so just click the link HERE and a new window will open!! It's worth it - the fish ROCK!)

And of course the funniest picture is of my mother and her hubbie:

They tend to get the cell phones stuck in their ears every now and again - so I figured I had to take a picture to remember it by!

Good shopping

2006-07-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

Today there was a HUGE baby/kid consignment sale at a local fairground. I kid you not, over 350 families participated and all-in-all it was really well done. At night we headed to our neighborhood pool's tennis social (we have courts right next to the pool) and Michael played for a bit while I enjoyed the pool with the other ladies in the neighborhood (and some loud/splashy kids too). After the tennis fun some of the guys decided to show off their stuff on the diving board. Unfortunately I didn't have my good camera with me but was able to get a few shots:

We also got to play with a neighborhood baby - he is around 7 months old (ish) and he is so cute. I played with him in the pool and then again on deck. Michael even got a chance to hold him and it seems that he is a natural with kids - check it out:

Asleep in less than 5 minutes... those are some great arms!

Mom arrives

2006-07-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

Goodness, today is a busy day. I have to ready the house for this afternoon when my mom and her hubbie arrive for the weekend. Isn't it weird how the house always manages to mess itself up. Surely I am not the cause of the mess-up... and neither is my husband. Maybe it's the dogs when we're not looking?!?! Hmmmm - yeah... it's the dogs. I need to get them to put things away after they use them, take out the trash when they fill it up, and most importantly wash the dishes in the sink. Yup - the dogs 100%. After picking up the family I have to teach (at the on-line university) tonight... the fun just continues!

Blueberry baking - yum!

2006-07-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

Ok I figured out what to make with the blueberries that I picked yesterday. A while back Michelle had a link on her blog to another blogger's recipe for breakfast blueberry bars... they looked (and sounded) so good that I decided to give it a try:

Ok - can we say YUMMY!!!!! Really - everyone should make these! They are yummy and fantastic (although my hubbie says they "taste like blueberries" - go figure!)

Blueberry Picking - yum!

2006-07-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Today my friend Ellen and I went blueberry picking at a local berry farm. It was so nice because they don't spray the bushes with anything so you can eat the berries right off the tree (and they tell you to do so!) The bushes were pretty sparse due to lack of rain and a large number of pickers earlier in the season - but we of course found plenty to pick. I picked a pound and a quarter of blueberries at a whopping $1.65 a pound (can we say "such a deal!")

Now I just need to figure out what to make with them!

Back at home

2006-07-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

Today was filled with catch-up work, a "Heritage Makers" party from one of the women in my neighborhood (very cool but very expensive), and a bit of sickness tonight. However I didn't want to leave you hanging without a pretty picture from our trip - so here is a lovely pink flower that was seen growing by the pool:

A gator goodbye

2006-07-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

Before leaving today the Alligator came to say goodbye:

Scaring looking creature isn't he! When I walked up and down the banks he would follow me and when I stopped he'd stop and stare at me - totally freaky! I also loved this tree right on the other side of the water from our condo:

Totally southern! Anyway - the drive home was plagued by traffic and rain but we made it back ok! It was a wonderful week with Michael's parents at the beach and to them I tip my hat and say THANKS!

Last day on the island

2006-07-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day on Hilton Head as we leave pretty early tomorrow morning. We spent most of the day at the pool (where else) but did get out and walk along the beach. Here are some pretty shots from the day:

I did finish Deception Point by Dan Brown. It was a pretty good book - light reading but perfect for a week by the pool! Now when I return home my days will be filled with reading books like "how to get a baby to sleep" and other such fun! Tonight I plan to spend doing laundry so that we can pack all clean clothing to take home - better to do laundry here then have to work when I get home!

Don't feed the gators!

2006-07-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty rough night last night with a horrible stomach ache - so we kept it low key today by hanging out at the pool. I did walk around a bit taking pictures of the wild life again. Here is one of my favorite signs:

To me that translates to: Don't get too close!

If you are wondering where the gators are... well here is one coming up to say hi:

I hear they can run REALLY fast so I didn't get too close - I credit my shots to a really nice lenses! Tonight we headed to dinner with Michael's parents and of course stopped to pose for a picture:

Yup - looking a little less fat but still pregnant - which is a good thing indeed!

A Lunch Cruise

2006-07-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today we headed out on our Lunch Cruise. It was a lovely sail upon the Palmetto Star:

We got to see a lot of the island - which was really nice... and we saw some dolphins too:

Of course it wouldn't be a complete outing if we hadn't posed for a picture too... and since Michael doesn't pose... here he is looking all cool and cute:

I got one of me too - looking quite big these days:

It was a nice 2+ hour cruise that didn't end up like Gilligan's did!! Thank gosh for small favors!

On Vacation

2006-07-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hi there - Just a note to let everyone know I am still alive and well here on vacation on Hilton Head Island. It's hotter than piss here - this damn humidity is getting old ... I can take the 120 dry AZ heat but put me in 95 degree heat with high humidity and I am a whiny baby! (Not even Altanta is this bad!)

Hilton Head Island - or what we've seen of it is very pretty. We've mostly laid out at the pool (which is walking distance from our condo) and I even got to see the beach once (I am not a beach fan so once was really plenty!) My highlight so far was getting Marble Slab Creamery Ice Cream the other night (YUMMY!!!)

Today we took a boat cruise for lunch and I got to take lots of pictures of pretty water/land combinations - as well as boats and dolphins. I'll of course post them when I get home!

We have no internet access at the condo so I am in the rental office using the guest computer - I am really a junkie so it's been hard to stay away from the computer/internet.

Ok well I am off to the pool -hope you are all having a fantastic week!

A stroll on the beach

2006-07-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

Today we headed over to the beach for a little stroll. I am not a beach lover so we didn't lay out or anything - but the walk in the ocean was really nice. Michael and I did stop and pose for a picture - please keep in mind that I am wearing a maternity sun dress over a maternity bathing suit - not the most flattering combination:

I also took some beachy pictures, because what good is a vacation if I don't come home with 300 pictures of nothing? (Thank gosh for digital cameras!) Here is one of my favorites of a beach chair:

From our walk we headed back to - yup... you guessed it... the pool! It's been way too hot (over 97 degrees) to knit/crochet so I've been working on reading non-baby books. Deception Point by Dan Brown has been the book of the week - I'll let you know how it turns out!

Hilton Head Vacation

2006-07-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

Goodness well lets see... Saturday before leaving town we headed down to our neighborhood pool. There were having a huge grand opening celebration since totally re-doing the pool, pool area and tennis courts. I was pretty sad to not get to stay and enjoy the day but it was nice to see everyone and see the new facilities! We then drove the 5+ hours to Hilton Head Island where we meet my in-laws. We got a beautiful two bedroom, two bathroom condo - complete with kitchen and washer dryer (perfect for the way we like to vacation!) We had a very late dinner of pizza before calling it a night!

Sunday we were all lazy and just sat around at the pool - ALL DAY! The sun was way too hot for me so I mostly stayed in the shade. I had hoped to get a little sun (with 30 SPF block on) but it was really just too hot. I spent a good portion of the day in the pool - because when it was that hot who cared about looking like a beached whale!

Today we took and hour out of our day to listen to a timeshare presentation. We usually do this when we vacation because you get free stuff with it. In Vegas we got to see a free show - today we got a chance to take a free lunch cruise around the island (we'll go on Wednesday). It would usually cost $60 so we were happy to give an hour of our time for a free cruise! After we were done we went back to the pool - of course. It's just minutes walking from our condo so why not spend the rest of the day there?!!

In the back of our condo is a "water hazard" for the golf course - but it has lots of alligators, turtles and other such wildlife. Here was one turtle, just sun bathing his day away:

And here is another with "turtle fur" on his back:

Yes for those nature lovers who read my blog - I know this is just moss and algae... but when I ski I use a neck warmer called "Turtle Fur" so I thought this was a funny picture. I also got a picture of some kind of bird in flight:

Not bad for wild animal watching on vacation!

Vacation here I come!

2006-07-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

I spent the day getting ready for a week long vacation at the beach. We will be joining Michael's parents in Hilton Head to do nothing... ok I consider sitting on the beach or at the pool nothing but if you don't then I guess we will be doing something. So today was filled with laundry (so I have enough underwear to bring), cleaning the house (because the house needs to be shiny for the house/dog watcher), cleaning the pantry/fridge (because if we die before returning home and they hold the funeral at our house I don't want people to think we're messy when they go searching for coffee or tea), packing (because I did laundry), and I am sure that I'll still find more to do!

I will try to blog/email while I'm away - but if you don't hear from me right away you shouldn't worry! The worst that can happen is that I'll be mistaken for a beached whale while sitting on the sand -- and with that I am sure there will be news reports!

Have a great week!

Got tagged by Kate

2006-07-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Kate tagged me with a meme - and while I don't normally do these I figured if Kate's asking then I am happy to do it (after all she is a one HOT MAMMA!! - 17 weeks pregnant and still running strong - oh how I am jealous!! You go Kate and don't let anyone else tell you different!)

4 Jobs I've Had

Worked as a child actor/model in NYC (yes I was actually cute back then!)
Worked as a lifeguard (various pools around NY and FL)
Worked at Discovery Zone as a Party Hostess (a kids play center back when I was a teenager)
Delivered newspapers (when I was a kid)

4 Movies I Watch Over and Over

Sweet Home Alabama (it's just so cute)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (she is so hot)
Oceans 11 (they are all so hot)
50 First Dates

4 Places I Have Lived

The Bronx (NYC of course... for 19 years!!!)
Israel (for a summer)
Boston
Florida

4 Television Shows I Watch

The Daily Show
The Colbert Report
Dateline
Oprah

4 Places I Have Been On Vacation

Poland/Israel
Venice and Rome, Italy
Cancun, Mexico
Lake Tahoe, CA

4 Websites I Visit Every Day

CNN
Bloglines (to read all of my blogs)
Arizona Republic
Craigslist

4 Favorite Foods

Any and all fruit (except grapefruit and melon that is orange)
Nutella and Pita Bread
Pasta with Meat Sause
Veal of any kind

4 Places I'd Rather Be Right Now

Outdoors doing something fun and active
Snow Skiing
Traveling around the world
Sleeping

4 Favorite Bands/Musicians

Maroon 5
Vertical Horizon
Indigo Girls
Various Country Artists

4 Bloggers I'll Tag

Tag yourself if you want to do this one...

Just a few things...

2006-07-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

Ok I am finally caught up here at Just Another Day (still working to get caught up on the baby blog). I am happy to report that Linda got the bag from the Tote Exchange and seems to like it very much! Whoo hoo!!! Oh Linda I am so glad you liked it!!

In doggie news... Orange - our little dog has been bitting at his backside for a few days. It's red and somewhat puffy - so we are not sure if he was bit/stung by something, or if his biting is making it worse. However I am going to assume it's an allergic reaction to a sting/bite and give him some kid medicine to help stop the itching - which will hopefully make the redness/swelling go down. After a proper dose he was pretty tired and all he wanted to do was rest and sleep... here he is resting in the Hot Georgia Sun:

I wonder if he thinks he is going to get a tan?

In world news - Israel is at WAR!!! Oh Sh*t!! Praying for everyone there and wish a swift positive end for this fight! Good luck Israel - our household is behind you!

On knitting news - I think I am going to attempt to start knitting again (given the fact I have all next week at the beach in S. Carolina) at least in small doses as I am afraid that my child is going to have nothing warm for the winter (short of whatever my mother makes). It seems that 98% of the baby items I've knitted in the past are all girly!!!! AHHHHHHH So anyone have any suggestions on BOY patterns that are quick and easy to get done?!? I have less than 17 weeks to go and I feel the need to cover this child in wool! ;-)

Tote Exchange Bag is mailed

2006-07-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I sent my Tote Exchange bag off to Linda - my Tote Exchange Pal. This was a one time semi-secret exchange where you make a tote for someone and someone else makes one for you. I joined this exchange right at the beginning of my pregnancy and it was at the time when I was still feeling good. I shopped around for yarns and patterns and I was all ready to make a nice felted bag.

Well then the morning sickness came on (that is all day sickness) and knitting made me sea sick. I always figured that it would go away. Well here I sit at 23+ weeks into my pregnancy and I am still not back to knitting. It doesn't make me that sea sick now (unless I try it in the car) but I am still not up for it. I am tired and it's a lot of effort and concentration that I am not ready for. I know that sounds lame, especially coming from me who never put her needles down before getting pregnant, but what can you do?

Well I was worried at what I was going to do for this Exchange. I was not about to drop out, and I just couldn't get someone else to knit it for me - so I decided to get crafty. I took this GAP wool sweater (child size) and felted it down in the washing machine:

I then cut and sewed it into a bag... but didn't really like the results. So I took the handles back off, and lined the bag with interfacing and some red snowflake fabric:

I then reattached the handles using the fabric with interfacing and D-rings - for a better look, stronger hold, and longer handles.

Linda - the recipient of my tote, wanted a purse big enough for her wallet, keys, cell phone, check book etc... and I think I came through for her!

Isn't it cute??? I just love it! It stands up by itself (I love that) and it's so festive for the winter!! And you don't even have to shovel it!!! I mailed it off yesterday but it was hard to part with it as I just think it's so cute! Lucky for me I have a few more wool sweaters that will be meeting the washing machine soon! Linda - I hope you like it!!!

Michael's Home Improvements

2006-07-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

WOW this weekend was jammed packed with never-ending fun... ok it wasn't that great but you get the idea. We continued on our quest to get things crossed off our list. This weekend's event was for Michael to put up boxes made out of molding in our dining room to give it a more formal/southern look. When we bought the house the dining room was an interesting mix of wallpaper and paint with yellow and white stripes and blue paint below the chair rail.

Then we started working in the house and changed the dining room to a lovely shade of red and white (no wallpaper), took out that silly box you see in the right side of the picture above, and replaced the light:

Well now with the addition of the molding boxes it now looks like this:

Not bad huh?!? We ordered the Lane dining room furniture and it should be here in late September! We're on our way to having a real dining room! YIPEE

While Michael was doing all this, I decided to paint stars on the room darkening shade we bought for the baby's room. It was simple white shade we bought at Lowe's that I stenciled hundreds of stars on (in blue and silver):

That's it above - drying! It's not prefect but hey, what can you do?!? The kid will never know so I am not that worried! I used an 8.5 x 11" stencil, several sizes of paint brushes and of course, stencil cream paint:

It took a while to do, since it's a big shade but I really like it!

Now all I need to do is sew some fancy curtains or a valance and we're set for the window!! (And if you haven't guessed - the room is going to be in shades of blue, with off white walls, in a moon/star theme!)

Winding Down

2006-07-07T23:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had dinner with a friend of Michael's from high school youth group, and her husband and two kids. It was a nice Shabbat dinner with good food, however not all that relaxing given the fact that the kids are somewhere around 3yrs old and 1 yr old.... quite the entertainment. We finished up the night at our neighbor's happy hour down the block from our house -- all this to gear up for another big weekend!

Summer Issue of Magazine

2006-07-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well all the work has finally paid off as we officially launched issue #2 today!!!!! (I bet you all were wondering what happened to me as I sank further into getting this issue published.)

It's a small issue but packed with some amazing designs - oh how I love them. Head on over and check it out - and we expanded the site to offer onsite yarn buying from one of our preferred vendors - pretty cool if you ask me! I do hope you all like it! And remember - if you want to submit a pattern just let me know!

4th of July

2006-07-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Today our neighborhood had a 4th of July party at a local park. I helped earlier this morning make two entire loaves of bread into PBnJ sandwiches for the kids - so much fun! When we got to the park they had a jungle gym, games for the little kids, and baseball for the men/older kids (the woman could have played too but really ... in this heat??) Lunch was a Subway Sub, watermelon, drinks, candy, chips, etc. (and of course PBnJ for the kids).

I did get some amazing shots of my favorite neighborhood kids/babies with my new camera lenses - but since I never asked for permission to post the pics here I won't. However I am going to post two shots of my hubbie playing baseball....

See Gerry (mom's hubbie) Michael plays baseball... or at least he can hit the ball and run!!!

It's raining in our living room

2006-07-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

Good heavens - the other day we discovered a waterfall in our living/family room! That's right - you read correctly, a waterfall!!!! It seems that twice now after going out for a few hours and leaving the dogs to roam about the house (normally they are in their kennels) we come home to a wet blanket. This wet blanket is hung over the back of the couch and is soaked. It never smelled like pee or puke - but since we left the dogs out - it must be their fault!

Well we went down the block on Saturday morning and left the dogs out to roam about the house. We were only gone for an hour and when we came home we plopped down on the couch to watch a little TV. I pulled the blanket over me and YUP - it was wet! Michael blamed the dogs but the top of the blanket wasn't wet - it was the part that was behind the back of the couch. There was no way the dogs could have wet that (and besides it still didn't smell). So I decided to do a little detective work and since the shower (in our newly remodeled master bathroom) is right above our couch, I started there.

I went upstairs and flooded the shower bottom with lots of water (that is stopped the drain up and let the water fill)... then once there was a lot of water I open the drain and heard Michael scream "shut it off, shut it off, shut the water off!!!" I went downstairs to see water POURING from our ceiling/window (here it is both inside and outside of where it was pouring out from:

These pictures don't do it justice of course but WOW there was a lot of water pouring down. So YUP - it wasn't the dogs... we had a leak. So we called our neighbor Steve to come over and help us troubleshoot it (he is a handyman) and he decided that since we had remodeled with expensive tile in the bathroom it was only smart to go in through the ceiling to see if we could find what was wrong.

So he cut two holes in the drywall and stuck his head up to see what was wrong:

Turns out that there was two thing causing the leak... first there is a coupling that holds two pipes together - it was half the size it should be (seems the remodeling contractors cut it in half to get it in place) and could cause a leak. But the second thing was a sure fire way to cause a leak:

It seems that when they replaced the sub floor they nailed the new floor to the floor joist but just so happened to miss in this spot and the nail cracked the pipe. You can see by how far the nail is in the pipe of just how far they missed.

So Steve to the rescue - he cut the cracked pipe out, replaced it with a new pipe and two rubber couplings - then he fixed the drywall and volla - good as new:

All of this took several days but we are thrilled to have it fix quickly, easily and for very little money! It just doesn't get any better than that!

And to celebrate - some firework pictures from our friend's house:

Adam and Alicia had a nice get together tonight for their friends and the neighbors - it was a nice celebration (albeit the night before the 4th) and a nice chance to get away from home for some socializing!

Home improvements

2006-07-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

Michael and I sat down one night last week and came up with a very LONG list of things we need to get done before this baby graces us with his presence in November. From things like "take a class on childbirth and parenting" to "get the house in order" we have it covered. Now all we have to do is find both the time and money to get it all done.

When trying to figure out what we were going to do this weekend I reminded Michael of our neighbor Kris. It seems that late one night a few weeks ago Kris was walking home from another neighbors house when he just happened to pass our house at the same time that Michael's naked ass was walking away from the window.. and YUP - Kris got a show! Thank gosh it was just Kris and that he wasn't out walking with his wife and kid! Kris is our age and got a kick out of it - and his wife did tell him that it could be worse - Michael could have been walking TOWARDS the window.

So our (Michael's) job for the weekend was to hang 10 sets of blinds - which will cover all of the upstairs windows and the windows in his office. That still leaves us with several bare windows - but none that will showcase Michael's behind!

Just so you can see what a terrific job Michael did - check out our new blinds in our bedroom (and it's the picture taker who is crooked, not the window):

Yeah - they are nice, and not just because the neighborhood doesn't get to see Michael's tush but because I can now sleep without any street lights peering in my eye! YIPEE

Still working...

2006-06-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

YUP - you guessed it - we are working on the magazine! Besides a quick break for breakfast with my friend Ellen (and of course Happy Hour at the Ryan's this evening) we are hard at work! However I will leave you with a pretty picture of a flower that I took in Orlando:

Have a great weekend!

Countdown to publishing...

2006-06-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Goodness we've been working like dogs on the new issue of the magazine. We did get to break for dinner with Adam and Alicia and then I was back at the computer tonight to teach another live session of an online class that I have going through July (the fun I tell you!) I won't even stay long on this post because I need to get back to work!

On our way home

2006-06-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

Today we hopped in the car and drove home - stopped in Ocala to see my sister and the in Gainesville to buy a new t-shirt at a local University Florida bookstore. We had a lovely lunch with Rebecca and she brought us some fun goodies for the baby (that can be seen on the Pea in the Pod Blog) and some goodies for us:

That's right boys and girls - now even our lips are GATOR-ized!!! So when we look at... say... FSU and say KISS MY A*S - we are doing it in full gator spirit!

Disney Wedding

2006-06-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

Today was the big wedding day! And let me tell you - Florida in June is HOT and STICKY!!! Really not a fun place to be hanging out outside for too long. The wedding began at noon at the Wedding Pavilion. This Pavilion is a building with lots of windows and the main window behind the "alter" if you will, looks out over a lake towards the Magic Kingdom Castle. Pretty cool backdrop for getting married. The ceremony was nice of course but the coolest part was the yarmulkes they handed out (as it was a Jewish wedding):

YUP!! They had Mickey Mouse all over it! How cool is that! I think that was my favorite part of the wedding to be quite honest with you. And these are nice yarmulkes too - black suede. Michael didn't seem to amused but I thought they were really cool!

After the ceremony was over the bride and groom walked to their limo in a sea of bubbles:

The cocktail hour and reception were lovely! The food was ok, the music good and the set-up lovely. The best part (of course) was the dessert ice cream bar!! Yummy! I didn't get a picture of it, since I was too busy eating it, but I did get a shot of the bride and groom cutting their cake:

On the back wall where the bride and groom sat they had a projected image of the Magic Kingdom Castle - it was really neat with stars on either side:

And of course I got a picture of Michael and I:

I wasn't feeling the best today - between the hot weather and the humidity, and being pregnant and on my feet for the better part of the day (not to mention in the car for more hours than I'd like to admit two days before) this was the best I could muster up to look. I think I looked better in person - but I am sure that is up for debate!

Day of Fun with Friends

2006-06-24T23:21:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun day... we got to spend it with my best friend Ilene and her family ...which is her hubbie and her two cute boys... Connor (2yrs) and Husdon (3+ months). We hung out at her house and she cooked a fantastic lunch. I got to play with the kids and hold the baby - who is just as cute as can be. Then Ilene and I went off to get manicures, pedicures and even our eyebrows waxed. Let me tell you - it was a good time had by all!

From there we were off to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding we are to attend tomorrow. Michael's good friend and former roommate Jason is getting married tomorrow at Walt Disney World. Yup! He's having a Disney Wedding. And I know what you're thinking... "what a good man to put up with his wife wanting to get married at Disney" - well if you are thinking that - you're wrong. It's him who loves Disney and it's him who wanted to get married at Disney! So how could we miss this?

The rehearsal dinner tonight was huge - over 125 people. It was at an Italian restaurant in Orlando and the food was pretty good. We got to see not only the bride and groom, but also two other friends of Michael's from college (plus their family). Here is Michael with his college buddies - (from left to right... Chad, Jason, Michael and Todd):

It was a really nice night and we are looking forward to the wedding tomorrow!